Equities rebound as capitalisation rises by N131 billion

The Nigerian equities market halted six days of losses to close on a positive note yesterday, as market capitalisation gained N131 billion.At the close of transactions yesterday, the all-share index advanced by 215.88 points, representing a gain of 0.22 per cent to close at 97,123.61 points.

Also, market capitalisation rose by N131 billion to close at N58.852 trillion. The upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Conoil, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Julius Berger, Zenith Bank and PZ Cussons Nigeria.

On what will shape the market in the next trading session, analysts at Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “Market sentiments turned bullish with green close in some key banks as they dominated the activity chart. We anticipate this trend to filter into tomorrow’s session, with the ASI expected to close in the green barring any major loss in any of the heavyweights.”

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 26 stocks gained relative to 21 losers. Conoil emerged the highest price gainer of 9.93 per cent to close at N208.10 kobo. while John Holt followed with a gain of 9.92 per cent to close at N3.99 kobo.

Eunisell Interlinked and UBA appreciated by 9.87 per cent each to close at N6.79 kobo and N35.05 kobo respectively, while PZ Cussons Nigeria added 8.48 per cent to close at N24.95 kobo.

On the other side, Oando led others on the losers’ chart with 9.98 per cent to close at N72.65 kobo while DAAR Communications followed with a decline of 9.68 per cent to close at 56 kobo, while Regency Alliance Insurance shed 6.52 per cent to close at 43 kobo.

Veritas Kapital Assurance lost 6.25 per cent to close at N1.20, while Guinea Insurance depreciated by 4.26 per cent to close at 45 kobo.

The total volume traded increased by 194.37 per cent to 3.602 billion units, valued at N25.570 billion, and exchanged in 10,679 deals. Transactions in the shares of Sovereign Trust Insurance led the activity with 2.5 billion shares worth N1.425 billion. NEM Insurance followed with account of 563.765 million shares valued at N3.948 billion, while UBA traded 201.959 million shares valued at N6.739 billion.

Zenith Bank traded 46.355 million shares worth N1.96 billion, while Veritas Kapital Assurance traded 34.661 million shares worth N41.982 million.