Equities regain vigour as index rises by 0.12 per cent

Following price gains recorded by most blue-chip stocks, the bulls upstaged the bears at the reopening of transactions yesterday, causing the All-Share Index (ASI) to appreciate by 0.12 per cent.
 
Specifically, the ASI of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose 29.87 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.12 per cent to close at 24,858.89 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation size gained N16 million to close at N12.968 trillion.
   
The uptrend was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, including, Nestle Nigeria, Okomu Oil, UAC of Nigeria (UACN), PZ Cussons Nigeria, and Fidson Healthcare.

On market outlook for the week, analysts at GTI Securities Limited, said: “We expect the sell-off sentiment in the equities market to slow-down. This, we opined will be driven by the current cheap prices of many fundamentally-viable stocks that offer short-term gains prospect to active investors. However, we believe the anticipated unimpressive second quarter (Q2), 2020 earnings performance may continue to weigh on market volatility.”
 
However, the market breadth remained negative with 18 gainers against 29 losers. Cutix, Okomu Oil, and Regency Alliance Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each, to close at N1.76, N70.40, and 22 kobo, respectively, per share.
 
Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals followed with 9.49 per cent to close at N1.50, and Wapic Insurance rose 9.38 per cent to close at 35 kobo, per share. PZ Cussons Nigeria edged up 9.09 per cent to close at N4.20, while Prestige Assurance garnered 8.51 per cent to close at 51 kobo, per share.
On the other hand, Unilever Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N15.30 per share.
   
Arbico Plc followed with a 9.96 per cent dip to close at N11.75, and Chellarams lost 9.71 per cent to close at N2.51, per share. Eterna slipped 9.68 per cent to close at N2.24, while Deap Capital Management and Trust shed 9.09 per cent to close at 30 kobo, per share.
   
The total volume traded rose 24.77 per cent to 158.719 million shares worth N1.636 billion, traded in 3,940 deals. Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank topped the activity chart with 17.832 million shares valued at N401.073 million.
   
FBN Holdings followed with 17.38 million shares worth N91.347 million, while Zenith Bank traded 10.248 million shares at N165.605 million. Lasaco Assurance traded 10.195 million shares valued at N2.734 million, and United Bank for Africa (UBA) transacted 9.756 million shares worth N61.440 million.