•Equities regain rally with N3b gain
Nigerian equities halted their recent downtrend with a modest gain of N3 billion yesterday as bargain-hunters rallied the market to its first positive closing in recent day.
In a tit-for-tat trading that saw equal number of advancers and decliners, renewed bargain-hunting in many mid-cap stocks boosted the overall market position.
Transactions in the shares of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) topped the activity chart with 1.602 billion shares valued at N3.092 billion. Transcorp has been the most-sought after company at the stock market in recent days after Lagos businessman and an energy investor, Mr. Femi Otedola, made a move for the conglomerate.
Market sources confirmed that Otedola was behind multi-billion naira equity deals on Transcorp. The high-stake positioning in Transcorp has sent other investors scouting for the shares of the conglomerate.
The management of Transcorp has said it had not received any notification of any material purchase of the conglomerate’s shares, but the management expressed admiration that the group was at the centre of investors’ interests.
The All Share Index (ASI)- the common value-based index that tracks all share prices at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), rose by 11.54 absolute points or 0.02 per cent to close at 51,138.92 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities inched up by N3 billion to close at N27.853 trillion.
There were 21 gainers and losers each. Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) recorded the highest price gain of 9.73 per cent to close at N2.03 per share. R. T. Briscoe Nigeria followed with a gain 9.09 per cent to close at 24 kobo. International Energy Insurance rose by 7.50 per cent to close at N1.29. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company rallied 5.45 per cent to close at N11.60 while Africa Prudential appreciated by 4.81 per cent to close at N5.45.
On the negative side, Vitafoam Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 8.65 per cent to close at N16.90. Linkage Asurance followed with a decline of 8.33 per cent to close at 44 kobo. Chams Holding Company went down by 8.0 per cent to close at 23 kobo per share. Sovereign Trust Insurance lost 6.90 per cent to close at 27 kobo, while Courteville Business Solutions shed 6.67 per cent to close at 42 kobo, per share.
The total volume traded increased by 703.18 per cent to 1.820 billion shares valued at N5.020 billion, and exchanged in 4,669 deals. Livingtrust Mortgage Bank was the second most active stock with 69.974 million shares worth N205.053 million. Fidelity Bank traded 15.974 million shares valued at N82.335 million. Sterling Bank traded 13.538 million shares valued at N19.889 million while United Bank for Africa (UBA) transacted 13.097 million shares worth N102.074 million.
On market outlook, GTI Securities Limited said “the Nigerian equity market gained marginally yesterday. However, Investors are cautious as the market remains uncertain and striving towards recovery. Companies Q1, 2023 performances could be a driver for a positive shift.”