Increase in trading activities IN spite of the cautious investment in equities on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) and the selling pressure on most stocks for the four trading days last week, transactions closed the week on a bullish outlook with market performance indicators recording positive trends in the cumulative trading in the week.Specifically in the week, the twin performance indicators; the market capitalisation and All-Share Index appreciated as a result of the rise in the prices of blue-chips which normally raise indices in the market.Trading in the week also confirmed market watchers permutation that there were still potentials in most of the stocks even as the watchers enjoined investors to engage in long-term investment, not minding the profit takings and portfolio restructuring by the investors which sometimes tend to slow activities down.The return of the bulls in the market became noticeable after the presidential election in the country. And this came despite some hiccups in the beginning of the second quarter which saw market value moving back and forth. The new trend in the market, for some time now, has often forced investors to offload their holdings for capital gains immediately they notice any slight gain in sharesBesides, some of the dividends declared in the second quarter of the year have also helped attract positive reactions from investors as shares prices maintained northward trend as against the downward trend expected in their share prices.Transaction volume closed the week on a high note when compared with the figures recorded at the close of trading last Friday. As usual, banking sector emerged the most traded sector with 690.3 million units valued at N5.85 billion exchanged in 12,458 deals. Transactions in the shares of Diamond Bank Plc, First Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and UBA largely boosted the volume traded in the sector.The increase recorded in the market cut across almost all the sectors with the exception of NSE Insurance Index and NSE Oil & Gas Index. The NSE All-Share Index appreciated by 258.78 points or 1.03 per to close on Friday at 25,300.46 while the market capitalisation of the 194 first -tier equities increased to N8.084 trillion. The NSE-30 Index appreciated by 22.88 points or 2.05 per cent to close at 1,131.06. Last week, ASI appreciated by 0.10 per cent while NSE-30 Index appreciated by 0.71 per cent.A review of transaction in the market last week showed that Nestle Nigeria Plc gained most in terms of appreciation. The stocks of the company rose by +2.27 per cent. Julius Berger followed closely with +5.00 per cent while Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, Unilever Nigeria and Dangote Flourmill ended the five top gainers with +21.39, +7.65 and +9.89 per cent respectively.A comparative analysis of the market with the previous week revealed that the twin market indicators, market capitalisation and All-Share Index appreciated by +1.03 per cent.Post election effect on stocksSpeaking on this development, the Managing Director of Lambeth Securities Limited, Mr. David Andorin said: the emergence of Goodluck Jonathan, as President of Nigeria was positively received by the capital market operators, especially by stockbrokers because he was seen as a business friendly leader who would take issues relating to the economy very seriously, and with a strong economy, the capital market will be better for it.We also believe that there will be policies that will drive the economy towards meeting the goals of 2020, and all the recommendations that have been made for various sectors of the economy will start enjoying official backing.Commenting on the state of the stock market before the elections, he said: The build up to the elections and the resultant election fever affected the market negatively because investors, both domestic and foreign, were holding back their money, and being unduly cautious, demand in the stock market was relatively weak.The market has been in a state of dynamic equilibrium. We saw a market that started the year at index of 24,000, climbed to 27,000 and then eventually came down to 24,000 again, but now we are seeing movement between that 24,000 points and 25,000, indicating that the market is in a state of dynamic equilibrium.The market reacts to price sensitive developments in the environment, affecting either the macro - economy or the social political state of the economy. When positive events occur, they impact positively on the market and when negative events occur, they impact negatively.So, we have seen an environment that has been unstable in the recent past. For instance, macro-economic liquidity has been unstable for some time now. When federal allocations are released, we see the market coming up and when Debt Management Office (DMO) and Central Bank of Nigeria sell either treasury bills or bonds, we see the market coming down. Also, in the interest rate dynamics system, when the interbank rate climbs up, we see the market bouncing back,he said.Trading position last weekTrading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange opened in an upbeat Tuesday, after the one-day public holiday to commemorate Workers Day on Monday, as major blue- chips companies appreciated in price, causing market capitalisation to increase marginally by 14 billion.Volume also recorded slight increase from 242.9 million shares worth N2.6 billion exchanged in 5,445 deals last week Friday to 256.9 million units valued at N2.5 billion traded in 5,651 deals Tuesday.Precisely, the All-Share Index rose by 43.909 basis points or 0.1 per cent from 25,041.68 recorded on Friday to 25,085.59 while market capitalisation appreciated by N14 billion, from N8, 000 trillion to N8, 014 trillion.On the price movement chart, 27 stocks appreciated in price led by Neimeth and Custodian & Allied insurance with five per cent to close at N1.47 and N3.15 per share respectively while Berger Paints followed with 4.96 per cent to close at N12.48 per share.Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, Oceanic Bank, and AG Leventis garnered 4.95, 4.91 and 4.81 per cent to close at N10.60, N1.71 and N2.18 per share respectively.Capital Hotel added 4.79 per cent to close at N3.28 per share while Stanbic IBTC gained 4.71 per cent to close at N10.01 per share.Wema Bank and Fidson also gained 4.24 and 4.09 perBcent to close at N1.23 and N2.29 per share.GlaxoSmithKline topped the days losers table with 4.96 per cent to close at N1.26 per share. Eternaoil followed with 4.88 per cent to close at N4.68 per share.International Breweries lost 4.79 per cent to close at N5.76 per share while Ikeja Hotel shed 4.73 per cent to close at N1.41 per share.Other losers of Tuesdays transactions included PZ Cussons, Abbey Building, Transnational Corporation which shed 4.69, 4.64 and 4.62 per cent to close at N30.50, N1.44 and N1.24 per share respectively.Starcomms dropped 4.60 per cent to close at N0.83 per share while Union Homes lost 4.29 per cent to close at N0.67 per share.The banking sub-sector remains the most active with volume terms of 204 million shares worth N1.8 billion in 3,594 deals while the conglomerates followed with 12.6 million shares worth N99 million in 206 deals. The insurance sub-sector ranked third with 10.7million shares worth N15.4 million in 175 deals.Investment value on the NSE dropped Wednesday following profit takings by investors even as market indices, despite price gains, recorded the most highly capitalised stocks slide by 0.05 per cent.However, turnover recorded a slight increase as 287.9 million shares worth N2 billion changed hands in 6,261 deals, higher than 242.9 million units worth N2.6 billion exchanged in 5,445deals on Tuesday.Specifically, at the close of transactions on Wednesday, 27 stocks led by Bank PHP and Japaul Oil depreciated in price by five per cent to close at N1.14 and N1.52 per share. West African Portland Company followed with 4.99 per cent to close at N40.19 per share.Nigerian Bottling Company shed 4.91 per cent to close at N35.23 per share while DN Meyer lost 4.89 per cent to close at N2.14 per share.International Breweries, TransNational Corporation and Paint & Coating Manufacturing also lost 4.86, 4.84 and 4.74 perc ent to close at N5.48, N1.18 and N2.21 per share respectively.On the other hand, 31 companies make the list on the gainers table as Cement Company of Northern Nigeria topped the table with five per cent to close at N11.13 per share while United Bank for Africa followed with 4.96 per cent to close at N6.14 per share.Access Bank added 4.79 per cent to close at N8.54 per share while Neimeth gained 4.76 per cent to close at N1.54 per share.Airservice, Oceanic Bank and Evans Medical garnered 4.74, 4.68 and 4.63 per share to close at N1.99, N1.79 and N1.13 per share respectively.Presco added 4.63 per cent to close at N7.01 per share while AG Leventis and Union Homes gained 4.59 and 4.48 per cent to close at N2.28 and N0.70pershare respectively.Consequently, the All-share index dropped by 12.670 basis points or 0.05 per cent from 25,085.59 recorded on Tuesday to 25,072.92 while market capitalisation fell by N3 billion or 0.03 per cent from N8, 014 trillion to N8, 011 trillion.With transactions exchanged in 3,396 deals, the banking sub-sector maintained its dominance in volume terms with 160 million shares worth N1.2 billion followed by the insurance sub-sector with 76.3 million units worth N61.9 million in 371 deals. The conglomerate trailed with 7.3 million units worth N45 million in 252 deals.Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa buoyed activities in the banking sub-sector with 20 million shares and 16.2 million units valued at N30 7million and N98 million in 433 and 352 deals.Stocks value on the nations capital market on Thursday went up by N47 billion as price gainers outweighed the losers, forcing the market to close on a positive note.However, the volume of shares traded dropped marginally, as 276.4 million shares worth N2.3 billion changed hands in 5,112 deals, lower than 287.9 million units valued at N2 billion exchanged in 6,261 deals.Precisely, at the closeof transactions in the day, market capitalisation increased by N47 billion or 0.5 per cent from N8,011 trillion recorded on Wednesday to N8,058 trillion while the All-share rose by 146.77 basis points or 25,072.92 to 25,219.69.On the price movement chart, 36 stocks appreciated in price, as UAC and Diamond Bank topped the gainers chart with five per cent to close at N16.80 and N7.35 per share while UPL followed with 4.99 per cent to close at N4.84 per share.Cement Company of Northern Nigeria and Dangote Sugar Refinery garnered 4.94 per cent to close at N11.68 and N13.17 per share respectively while UTC gained 4.92 per cent to close at N0.64 per share.United Bank for Africa added 4.89 per cent to close at N6.44 per share while Wema Bank gained 4.88 per cent to close at N1.29 per share.May & Baker and Union Bank also added 4.76 and 4.68 per cent to close at N4.18 and N3.13 per share.However, Starcomms led others on the losers table with five per cent to close at N0.76 per share wile Capital Hotel shed 4.88 per cent to close at N0.16 per share.Fidson, Guaranty Trust Assurance, DN Meyer lost 4.68, 4.68 and 4.67 per cent to close at N2.24, N1.63 and N2.04 per share.African Petroleum shed 4.62 per cent to close at N20.02 per share while Japaul Oil lost 4.61 per cent to close at N1.45 per share.TransNational Corporation and Bags Manufacturing Company also dropped 4.24 and 4.03 per cent to close at N1.13 and N2.38 per share.On the activity chart, the banking sub-sector remains the most active stock in volume terms with 199 million shares worth N1.6 million in 2,986 deals while the insurance sub-sector followed with 18 million units worth N15.8million in 185 deals.The market closed the week on Friday on the upbeat as the market capitalisation rose by N26 billion while the index added 80.77 points to close the week at a high of N8.084 trillion and 25,300.46 points respectively.Meanwhile in the Over the Counter Trade (OTC) market, a turnover of 156.26 million units worth N135,869.83 million in 1476 deals was recorded last week, in contrast to a total of 97.54 million units valued at N83,033.45 million exchanged in 629 deals during the earlier week ended Thursday, April 28, 2011. The most active bond (measured by turnover volume) was the 10.00 per cent FGN July 2030 (7th FGN Bond 2030 Series 3) with a traded volume of 57.4 million units valued at N45,890.78 million in 530 deals. This was followed by the 5.5 per cent FGN February 2013 (7th FGN Bond 2013 Series 1) with a traded volume of 36.06 million units valued at N33,125.09 million in 339 deals. Sixteen (16) of the available thirty-one (31) FGN Bonds were traded during the week compared with eighteen (18) in preceding week.
Click here to read full news..
