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The Nigerian Stock
Exchange recorded a total gain of N5 billion on equities at the close
of trading activities in December, after recording N74 billion losses
in the preceding month.

The market value of
the 217 listed equities, which opened the month at N7.908 trillion,
closed on the last trading day in December at N7.913 trillion,
reflecting a N5 billion marginal gains or a 0.06 per cent increase.

The Exchange’s
Strategy and Business Development Department said the marginal increase
in market capitalisation during the month could be attributed to the
“commencement of operations by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria
which boosted investors’ confidence, as reflected in positive equity
price movements.”

The Exchange said
the 217 listed equities accounted for 79.85 per cent of total market
capitalisation of the 264 listed securities which closed December at
N9.92 trillion; down by 0.94 per cent from N10.015 trillion in November.

Market turnover

The market recorded
a turnover of 6.63 billion shares valued at N56.7 billion in 111,114
deals during December, in contrast to a total of 7.43 billion shares
valued at N60.34 billion exchanged during November in 121,531 deals.
Trading days in December were 21, compared with 20 in November.

Aggregate stock
market turnover between January and December 2010 were 93.335 billion
shares valued at N797.551 billion, exchanged in 1,918,479 deals. In the
comparable period during 2009, the market recorded turnover of 95.3
billion shares valued at N638.11 billion in 1,619,385 deals.

Measuring by
turnover volume, the Banking subsector was the most active in December
with traded volume of 3.83 billion shares valued at N35 billion, while
the Insurance subsector was second with traded volume of 1.01 billion
shares valued at N658.55 million. The Information Communication
Technology subsector was third with transaction volume of 398.1 million
valued at N276.62 million.

A total of 173
equities out of the 217 listed were traded during the month compared
with 176 in November. Zenith Bank was the most active stock with
transaction volume of 981.1 million shares, followed by Guaranty Trust
Bank with 367.1 million shares, while First Bank placed third with 350
million shares.

Analysts at Renaissance Capital, an investment bank, said equity market outlook is compelling in 2011.

“Nigeria is just
beginning to fully recover from the financial crisis that started in
2008. Equities remain an attractive asset class to be in during the
recovery phase of the business cycle, and as such our outlook for
equity market performance in 2011 is robust,” they said.
Over-The-Counter (OTC) bond market, a turnover of 465.9 million units
worth N430.03 billion, was recorded in December 2010, in contrast to a
total of 730.82 million shares valued at N750.91 billion, exchanged
during the preceding month.

The most active
bond, in terms of volume, was the 5.50 per cent Federal Government of
Nigeria (FGN) Bond Feb 2013 with traded volume 81.2 million units
valued at N73.21 billion.

It was followed by
10 per cent FGN July 2030 with a traded volume of 73.85 million units
valued at N56.1 billion. Only 24 of the available 33 FGN Bonds were
traded during the month, compared with the 26 in the preceding month.