Stock Market Extends  Positive  Momentum, Gains N111bn on Demand for  Lafarge, Others

Kayode Tokede 

The stock market section of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) yesterday extended its winning momentum  by N111 billion, driven by positive sentiment seen in  Lafarge Africa Plc and 49 others.

On investors demand for Lafarge Africa that gained 6.1 per cent,  the  NGX All-Share Index rose by 175.12 basis points or 0.12 per cent, to close at 146,055.89 basis points to  advance the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns to +4.4per cent and +41.9per cent, respectively.

Similarly, the market capitalisation value gained N111 billion to close at N 92.405 trillion.

On sectors, performance was mixed as the NGX Insurance Index (+9.1per cent), and NGX Industrial Goods (+0.9per cent) closed higher, while the                 NGX Consumer Goods Index (-0.5per cent), NGX Banking index (-0.2per cent) and NGX Oil & Gas index (-0.2per cent) declined.

Investor sentiment remained upbeat, with market breadth closing positive as 50 stocks advanced against 29 decliners. Associated Bus Company, Champion Breweries, Ellah Lakes, Sunu Assurance, AXA Mansard Insurance, Prestige Assurance, Wapic Insurance and The Initiates Plc (TIP) recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N4.95, N17.38, N16.06, N6.05, N17.71, N2.20, N4.07 and N14.52 respectively, per share.

Julius Berger followed with a gain of 9.99 per cent to close at N147.60, while Mutual Benefits Assurance rose by 9.97 per cent to close at N3.53, per share.

On the other hand, Juli led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N9.00, per share. Unilever Nigeria followed with a decline of 9.97 per cent to close at N71.30, while Custodian Investment dipped by 9.55 per cent to close at N37.90, per share.

Academy Press shed 7.78 per cent to close at N8.30, while May & Baker Nigeria lost 7.69 per cent to close at N18.00, per share.

The total volume fell by 39.6 per cent per cent to 1.277 billion units, valued at N24.255 billion, and exchanged in 31,155 deals. Transactions in the shares of Lasaco Assurance topped the activity chart with 107.216 million shares valued at N439.210 million. Japaul Gold & Venture followed with 106.900 million shares worth N302.655 million, while Sterling Financial Holdings Company traded 97.834 million shares valued at N784.452 million.

AIICO Insurance traded 64.992 million shares valued at N273.370 million, while Access Holdings transacted 61.090 million shares worth N1.685 billion.

On market outlook, Afrinvest Limited stated that “we expect the bourse to maintain its positive performance driven by improved investor sentiment.”