Nigeria Content Online

The value of
equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) appreciated on Thursday
by 0.11 percent, after declining by 0.23 percent the previous day.

The NSE market
capitalisation of the 199 equities closed at N6.162 trillion after
opening the day at N6.155 trillion, reflecting 0.11 percent increase or
N7 billion gains. The market had lost over N14 billion on Wednesday
after recording gains on the first two trading days of the week.

The Exchange
All-Share Index, yesterday, also went up by 0.11 percent or a gain of
27.9 units from Wednesday’s figures of 25,170.02 basis points, to close
at 25,197.92.

Emmanuel Ikazoboh,
the newly appointed interim administrator of the NSE, said the current
trading performance shows that the market is on the recovery edge.

“It appears the
market has bottomed out. It has got to its lowest probably and it has
now started rising,” Mr. Ikazoboh said last Tuesday.

However, he said
the sustainability of the market “is dependent on the economy and the
purchasing power of the market operators.”

Assessing if the
current development in the market is attractive to foreign investors,
Tinu Badmus, a finance analyst at WealthZone Company, a portfolio
management firm, said, “I think it is too early to expect foreign
investors now with the situation of things; though some of them are
still in the market.”

She said what some
foreign investors are waiting for now before taking position in the
market “is the new management coming in to fully head the Stock
Exchange and the credibility of next year’s election.”

Gainers reduce

At the close of
trading session on Thursday, the number of gainers closed lower at 33
stocks, compared with the 34 gainers recorded the previous day; while
loser closed lower at 27 stocks, as against the 30 recorded on
Wednesday.

The banking
subsector led the market transaction volume yesterday with 146.660
million units valued at N1.331 million exchanged in 3,410 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access
Bank, and Fidelity Bank boosted the volume traded in the sector. The
total volume of 84.126 million units valued at N951.953 million traded
in the shares of the four banks accounted for 57.36 percent of the
entire sector volume.

Sectoral review

Analysts said sell
pressures still remain relatively in the banking sector as the number
of decliners stood at eight, at the close of Thursday’s trading,
compared with six recorded on Wednesday.

Transactions in the
Breweries sector ended with all the stocks’ closing at their previous
closed prices, a repeat of the Wednesday’s trend.

Some stocks that
made gainers’ chart in the building materials sector yesterday ended
with unchanged status at the close of trading session, as the sector
recorded one gainer to three unchanged, compared with three gainers to
one unchanged recorded yesterday.

Only PZ made the
gainers’ chart in the conglomerate sector, while other four stocks
traded ended at their previous closed prices compared with one gainer
to two losers recorded the previous day.