Equities Market Gains 2.7% in September on Renewed Interest in Oil Stocks

WEEKLY REPORT 

By Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie

The Nigerian equities market closed the month of September bullish as the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index rose by 2.7 per cent to close at   28,335.40 and while market capitalisation ended at N9.733 trillion last Friday.

However, the positive performance in September was boosted by renewed interest in oil and gas stocks  mainly due to  impressive  full year results of Conoil Plc  and positive developments in the global oil market following OPEC’s decision to cut supply.

Specifically, while the ASI grew by 2.7 per cent, Conoil Plc, Total Nigeria Plc, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc appreciated by 83.3 per cent, 21.3 per cent, 14.3 per cent and 14.2 per cent in that order.

The market recorded its fourth consecutive growth last week with growth of 0.31 per cent as the posted marginal gains in three of the five trading sessions.

Apart from the ASI that appreciated during the review week, the NSE Consumer Goods also gained, posting the higher return of 9.1 per cent.  Similarly, the Oil & Gas Index garnered 1.4 per cent the NSE Insurance Index rose by 0.9 per cent. Conversely, the NSE Banking Index went down by 2.3 per cent just as the NSE Industrial Goods shed 2.5 per cent.

Daily Market Performance Summary

The equity market opened the week on Monday with a marginal gain, as the NSE ASI appreciated by 0.06 per cent to close at 28,263.16.  Similarly, the market capitalisation rose by N5.5 billion to close at N9.71trillion. The gain resulted from appreciation recorded in the share prices of FBN Holdings, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Dangote Cement and Total Nigeria Plc.

Investors traded 249.76 million shares worth N1.96 billion in 3,170 deals. The most actively traded sectors were: Financial Services (217.06 million), Consumer Goods (11.67 million shares) and Conglomerates (7.38 million shares), while  three most actively traded stocks were  Fidelity Bank (52 million), Diamond Bank (28.33 million) and Access Bank (28.23 million).

In terms of sectoral performance, the NSE Consumer Goods  Index rose by 0.4 per cent and NSE  Insurance Index appreciated by 0.2 per cent. Conversely, the NSE Oil & Gas Index declined just as the NSE Banking Index shed 0.3 per cent.

The market was bearish on Tuesday as the NSE ASI fell marginally by 0.05 per cent to close at 28,248.86. The depreciation recorded in the share prices of FBN Holdings, Stanbic IBTC, Access Bank, GT Bank and Oando were responsible for the loss recorded in the NSE ASI. The total value of stocks traded stood at N1.41 billion, down by 27.90 per cent from N1.96 billion recorded the previous day.  The total volume of stocks traded was 294.90 million shares in 3,142 deals.  Livestock Feeds,  FCMB and United Bank for Africa were the most traded, accounting for 104.59 million shares, 43 million shares and 20.15 million shares in that order.

Performance across sectors was broadly positive but for the Oil & Gas index which emerged the sole decliner of all sector indices, down 0.9 per cent as further profit-taking in Conoil (-7.7 per cent) and Oando  (-4.8 per cent) continues to drag sector performance. The NSE Insurance Index rose by 0.4 per cent on the back of price appreciation in Law Union & Rock Insurance (+7.0 per cent) and Continental Insurance  (+3.1 per cent). The Consumer Goods index followed with a gain of 0.3 per cent, while the NSE Banking Index appreciated by 0.1 per cent.

The equities market continued to fluctuate on Wednesday as some bellwethers dragged the overall performance with the NSE ASI falling by 0.04 per cent to close at 28,263.23.  Losses in Nestle Nigeria Dangote Cement Plc and Lafarge Africa Plc contributed to the bearish performance.

In terms of sector performance, three sectors closed in the red while two closed positively. The NSE Industrial Goods Index led with  1.0 per cent, while  the NSE Oil & Gas Index shed  0.4 per cent. Similarly, the NSE Banking Index shed 0.1 per cent. On the positive side,  the NSE  Consumer Goods  and NSE  Insurance indices appreciated by 0.3 per cent.

The negative trend was reversed on Thursday as the NSE ASI rose by 0.04 per cent to close at  28, 247.56, just as the market added N3.9 billion to close at N9.7 trillion. The appreciation performance was driven by gains in Oando Plc(+6.9 per cent), Seplat (+5.0 per cent), Unilever Nigeria (+3.3 per cent) and Nestle Nigeria (+1.2 per cent).  The equity market consolidated Thursday’s   on Friday. Consequently, the market closed the week on a positive note, rising by 0.31 per cent.

Market Turnover

In all, investors traded 1.287 billion shares worth N9.303 billion in 15,258 deals last week, compared with  4.331 billion shares valued at N16.803 billion that exchanged hands last week in 16,797 deals the previous week.

As usual, the Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 970.503 million shares valued at N4.540 billion traded in 8,298 deals; thus contributing 75.41 per cent and 48.80 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Agriculture Industry followed with 109.788 million shares worth N155.716 million in 269 deals. The third place was occupied by the Consumer Goods Industry with a turnover of 82.938 million shares worth N2.774 billion in 2,884 deals.

Also traded during the week were a total of 4.761 million units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N25.821 million executed in 45 deals, compared with a total of 615 units valued at N6,070.20 transacted a week earlier in 21 deals. Similarly, total of 2,023 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N1.925 million were traded in four deals compared to a total of 3,994 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N3.263 million transacted two weeks ago in five deals.

Gainers and Losers

Meanwhile, 35  price gainers were recorded  last week  higher than the 33 equities of the previous week, while 32  equities depreciated in price, higher than 25 equities of the previous week. Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc led the price gainers with 32.7 per cent, trailed by UACN Property Development Company Plc with 16.2 per cent, while Learn Africa Plc appreciated by 13.7 per cent. Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc, and Pharma-Deko Plc garnered 9.3 per cent apiece. Other top price gainers included:  Dangote Flour Mills Plc (9.1 per cent); Wema Bank Plc (7.4 per cent); Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc (6.7 per cent) and Seplat (6.2 per cent).

Conversely, Caverto Offshore Support Group Plc led the price losers with 27.6 per cent, followed by Ashaka Cement Plc with 18.4 per cent. Conoil Plc shed 15 per cent, just as Beta Glass Company Plc and Presco Plc declined by 11.1 per cent.

Other top price losers were: Oando Plc (8.1 per cent); Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc (7.3 per cent); Livestock Feeds Plc (5.4 per cent); Northern Nigeria Flour Mills Plc (4.9 per cent) and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (4.3 per cent).

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