Equity market improves by N259bn

The Nigerian equities market last week consolidates gains on positive investor sentiment.  The trading for the week on week basis  closed higher  amidst news of deregulation of the nation’s downstream oil and gas sector.
The NSE ASI opened last  week’s trading session upbeat with 0.49 per cent gains, it retreated into the negative region for the second and third trading sessions shedding 0.70 per cent and 0.06 per cent respectively. The trend however reversed on the fourth and last trading sessions with 0.91 per cent  and 2.23 per cent.
The market capitalisation for the increased by N259 billion or 2.92 per cent  to N9.099 trillion from N8.840 trillion in the previous week while the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index increased by 739.43 basis points 2.88 per cent  to 26441.03 from 25701.60 recorded the previous week.

Similarly, all other Indices finished higher during the week, with the exception of the  NSE Industrial Good Index that declined by 1.15 per cent.          NSE Premium Index gained 4.82 to 1624.13, the NSE Main Board Index grew by 52.76 basis points to 1,202.37, NS ASeM index added 0.83 to 1,214.46 points, NSE 30 Index rose by 43.28 to 1,171.04, NSE Banking index advanced by 21.15 basis points to 262.23, NSE Insurance Index went up by 1.75 to 133.40, NSE Consumer Goods index surged by 26.03 to 657.17, NSE Oil and Gas index 16.53 basis points to 339.07, NSE Lotus II grew by 44.30 to 1,779.09 and NSE Pension Index appreciated by 57.88 to  792.81. A review of trading activities showed that 54 equities appreciated in price during the week, against 40 of the previous week. The result indicated that 17 listed companies  depreciated in price, compared to 25 equities of the previous week, while 118 firms remained unchanged lower than 124 equities of the previous week.

Tiger Branded Consumer good Plc led gainers table, growing by 50.13 per cent or N2.00 to close at N5.99 kobo, followed by Diamond Bank with a gain of 44.29 per cent or N0.62 kobo to close at N2.02 kobo, FCMB Group Plc added 30.30 per cent or N0.30 kobo to N1.29 kobo. Other firms recorded price appreciation were Neimeth 28.21 per cent, LiveStock feeds Plc 25.00 per cent, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc 22.86 per cent, Skye Bank Plc 21.21 per cent, May & Baker Nigeria Plc 20.24 per cent, United Capital Plc 18.18 per cent and Unity Bank 16.67 per cent.

University Press Plc recorded the highest loss during the week, dropping by 14.21 per cent or N0.81 kobo to close at N4.89 kobo, MRS Oil Nigeria Plc trailed with a loss of 9.73 per cent or N4.36 kobo to close at N40.47 kobo. Caverton Offshore Support GRP fell by 8.48 per cent or N0.14 kobo to close at N1.51 kobo. Other companies depreciated in price were Academy Press Plc 5.97 per cent, Port Land Paints and Products Nigeria Plc 5.07 per cent, John Holt Plc 5.0 per cent, Berger Paints Nigeria Plc 4.92 per cent, Golden Guinea Breweries 4.49 per cent, Custodian and Allied Insurance 2.63 per cent and  Presco 1.90 per cent.
Also traded during the week were a total of 382,448 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N10.288 million executed in 43 deals, compared with a total of 6,837 units valued at N16.316 million transacted last week in 25 deals. week in 7 deals.