Equities market adds N37bn on buying interest in Okomu Oil, 27 others

The first trading session of the week closed on a positive note as the overall capitalisation rose by N37 billion, following buying interest in Okomu Oil Plc and 27 others.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited All Share Index (NGX ASI) rose by 63.83 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 96,037.28 basis points. Also, market capitalisation gained N37 billion to close at N55.166 trillion.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are: Okomu Oil, BUA Foods, Oando, Eterna and Dangote Sugar Refinery.

Also, market breadth closed positive as 28 stocks gained relative to 18 losers. Eterna recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N23.10, per share. Okomu Oil followed with a gain of 9.99 per cent to close at N379.80, while R.T. Briscoe Nigeria increased by 9.96 per cent to close at N2.98, per share.

Oando went up by 9.93 per cent to close at N52.60, while Japaul Gold Venture appreciated by 9.73 per cent to close at N2.48, per share. On the other hand, Transcorp Power led the losers’ chart by 9.99 per cent to close at N335.20, per share. Abbey Building Microfinance Bank followed with a decline of 9.69 per cent to close at N2.33, while United Capital declined by 8.35 per cent to close at N18.10, per share.

University Press depreciated by 5.51 per cent to close at N2.40, while Unilever Nigeria declined by 5.26 per cent to close at N18.00, per share.

The total volume traded rose by 19.32 per cent to 390.513 million units, valued at N3.884 billion, and exchanged in 9,242 deals. Transactions in the shares of Veritas Kapital Insurance topped the activity chart with 68.270 million shares valued at N90.255 million. Japaul Gold & Ventures followed with 23.924 million shares worth N58.252 million, while FCMB Group traded 20.484 million shares valued at N155.668 million.

Prestige Assurance traded 20.244 million shares valued at N10.382 million, while Chams Holding Company sold 18.321 million shares worth N38.770 million.

Looking forward, United Capital Plc stated that “the equities market is expected to continue with mixed performance as investors adopt opportunistic investment strategies. Given the current trend of rates in the money/fixed income market, we expect some bearish undertone to persist in the equities market.

“Whereas the bulls will remain incentivized to persist in bargain hunting, given the tremendous mid-long-term opportunities in the equities market. Fund managers and businesses may begin to entertain mid-long-term investment objectives, cherry-picking only sound equities with undisputable (or undervalued) fundamentals and ongoing corporate actions. This strategy will look to maximise market opportunities, thereby optimising portfolio returns.”