Investors’ dividend earning pursuit pushes index further by 1.36%

As earnings reporting season draws closer, with less than three weeks to the general elections, the nation’s equities market has continued to trend upwards, occasioned by price gains in banking and some blue chip stocks with track records of dividend payment in the last four to five years.
 
The development comes just as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is planning a stiff regulation on the banks’ capital formation before the end of second quarter 2019, to make the financial institutions stronger, reduce the effects of non-performing loans, among others.
 
Specifically, at the end of last week’s transactions, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index and market capitalisation appreciated by 1.36 per cent to close at 31,426.63 points and N11.719 trillion respectively.

“We advise cautious trading and investing, while positioning in fundamentally sound equities.

The ongoing volatility will persist as investors and fund managers reposition their portfolios, with eyes fixed on political space and ahead of full year company earnings position and post-election market dynamics. 

For Afrinvest Securities Limited, “we believe appetite for value stocks will remain upbeat in the near term.

Nonetheless, we expect to see profit taking activities at the start of the coming week.  However, we maintain our bearish outlook for the market in the near-term.”
 
On the price movement chart, 40 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 38 in the previous week. 25 equities depreciated in price, lower than 29 of the previous week, while 103 equities remained unchanged higher than 102 equities recorded in the preceding week.
 
Also traded during the week were a total of 34,341 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N440,166.37 executed in seven deals compared with a total of 55 units valued at N5,610.00 that was transacted last week in two deals.
 
A total of 3,498 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N3.131 million were traded this week in 20 deals compared with a total of 3,573 units valued at N3.764 million transacted last week in 24 deals.
  
Meanwhile, 745,234,886 additional ordinary shares of May & Baker Plc were listed on the daily official list of the NSE on Thursday, 24 January 2019.
 
The additional shares listed arose from May & Baker’s Rights Issue of 980,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N2.50 per share on the basis of one  new ordinary shares for every one ordinary shares held as at four September 2018. 
 
According to NSE, the listing of the additional 745,234,886 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid up shares of May & Baker has now increased from 980,000,000 to 1,725,234,886 ordinary shares.