Nigeria Content Online

The current bullish
trend witnessed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has been
attributed to voluminous trading by some institutional investors.

Tunde
Oladapo-Dixon, an analyst and chief executive officer of StockPicks
Consulting, a stock broking firm, said the sixth consecutive trading
days of rebound seen is the result of some fund managers who now find
safe haven in stock market.

Mr. Oladapo-Dixon
said, “What we are seeing now in the market is the work of fund
managers because they couldn’t make a clue in the money market, which
is very stable. That is why they decided to patronise the stock
market.” “If you look at the rate in the money market now, it has been
slashed drastically as a result of some of the decision taken in the
last Monetary Policy Committee meeting that held early this month. The
rate has now been forced down to about eight per cent for individual
and corporate investors,” he said.

He said the rally
in the market may not be sustainable because the institutional
investors will soon leave the market. “I think by mid of this week, we
may start seeing shedding in price of some equities because as sensible
investors, when you make up to 10 to 15 per cent gain, you leave the
market,” he added.

Stock dealers at
Afrinvest West Africa, a portfolio management firm, in an analysis
report, said, “The bullish run in the banking sector continued on
Monday despite some top and mid tier banks losing marginal points, as
majority booked gains in excess of 4.0 per cent.”

“Institutional
purchases mopped up offers of Zenith Bank resulting in a 4.9 per cent
price appreciation. Also on the upbeat were Fidelity Bank, Skye Bank
and Access Bank realising gains in excess of 4.0 per cent. Ecobank
rallied with a 5.0 per cent mark-up after light profit taking early in
the session,” they explained.

The analysts added
that the shares of Dangote Flour, Flour Mills and Cadbury, in the food
and beverages sector, were also investors’ favourites yesterday.

Meanwhile, an
analyst has dissociated any direct link of Aliko Dangote’s removal as
the president of the NSE to the present market upturn.

Egbo Amaechi, a
finance analyst and a member of the Shareholders Association of
Nigeria, said “Market will not react to the removal of Mr. Dangote from
the NSE’s council and president because he (Mr. Dangote) is not an
executive director of the Exchange.”

The bulls hold

The NSE market
capitalisation, on Monday, recorded over N58 billion gains on Friday’s
figure of N5.813 trillion to close at N5.871 trillion, representing
about 0.99 per cent increase.

The NSE All-Share
Index also appreciated by 0.99 per cent or 238.37 units to close at
24,380.09 basis points from the 24,141.72 recorded on the last trading
day.

At the close of
Monday’s proceedings, a total of 53 stocks appreciated in price while
28 stocks depreciated. The Exchange recorded trading in 422.164 million
volumes of shares worth N3.551 billion in 6,927 deals.

Banking stocks lead

Three stocks in the
banking sector led as the most traded equities for the day. Zenith Bank
was top on the list with 37.664 million shares valued at N664.666
million, while Access Bank and Fidelity Bank followed, respectively,
with 30.214 million shares worth N296.220 million and 29.174 million
shares valued at N92.080 million.

As on the last
trading day, the banking subsector yesterday maintained its lead as the
most active with 259.295 million quantities of shares, worth over
N2.471 billion.

The subsector’s volume was driven by shares of the three banks that topped the most traded chart.

Trading activities
in the insurance subsector was second with 64.706 million shares valued
at N55.750 million. Volume in the subsector was boosted by deals in
shares of Regency Alliance Insurance, Aiico Insurance, and
International Energy Insurance.

The food/beverages
subsector followed with 21.490 million shares worth N331.852 million
exchanged by investors. Dangote Flour Mills, Dangote Sugar Refinery,
and Cadbury Nigeria boosted the subsector’s volume.

Across the globe

On the
international scene on Monday, stock markets experienced mixed
performances. In Europe, the France CAC 40 Index was down by 0.83 per
cent; the Swiss Market Index gained 0.13 per cent, while the Euronext
100 Index and the Germany DAX declined by 0.89 and 0.60 per cent
respectively.

The United States
S&P 500 and Canada S&P SX 60 Indices were also down by 0.59 and
0.84 per cent respectively. In Asia, the China Shanghai Composite Index
depreciated by 1.21 per cent, while the Japanese Nikkei 225 appreciated
marginally by 0.01 per cent. Meanwhile, the bears hold sway in the
Australian ASX Index and the Taiwan TSEC 50 Index, were down by 0.66
and 1.46 per cent respectively.