Goddy Egene
After one day of negative performance the stock market rebounded yesterday as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) gained 0.12 per cent to close at 32,453.69 compared with a decline of 15 per cent. Market capitalisation added N14.0 billion to close at N12.1 trillion.
The market had on Wednesday depreciated due to profit taking after days of rally that led to a gain of about 6.7 per cent since the beginning of February.
However, the market rebounded yesterday as 22 stocks appreciated. Associated Bus Company Plc and Livestock Feeds Plc with 10 per cent apiece. Unity Bank Plc trailed with 9.6 per cent, just as Unilever Nigeria Plc. Wema Bank Plc went up by 6.7 per cent, while PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc chalked up 5.4 per cent.
PZ Cussons has been attracting more demand following restatement of its commitment to remain in the country. Contrary speculations, the company said it had no plan to leave Nigeria, stressing that the country still remained a market of interest for it. Chief Executive Officer of PZ Cussons , Mr. Christos Giannopoulos, said the company would be celebrating 120 years of PZ Cussons making life better and adding value to Nigerians.
“In our 120 years of doing business in Nigeria, we have faced different conditions and come out stronger at the end. We confirm to our consumers, customers, employees, business partners and stakeholders that Nigeria still remains a market of interest for us and have made no plans to leave Nigeria . Our factories in Ikorodu, Aba and all our distribution centres around the country are operational and will continue to be,” he said.
Conversely, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc led the price losers with 8.3 per cent, trailed by Oando Plc with 5.1 per cent. Dangote Flour Mills Plc shed 4.5 per cent and Union Diagnostic went down by 3.2 per cent among others.
In all, investors traded 422.7 million shares worth N3.7 billion, which is lower than the previous day’s performance. The most active stocks by volume were Diamond Bank (97.6 million shares), Transcorp (41.1 million shares) and Zenith Bank (40.3 million shares) while Zenith Bank (N997.1 million), GTBank (N992.6 million) and Access Bank (N263.7 million) led in terms of value.
In terms of sectoral performance, three out of five sectors tracked advanced. The NSE Insurance Index led with 1.2 per cent. It was followed by the NSE Industrial Index and NSE Consumer Goods Index with 0.7 per cent and 0.3 per cent in that order.
On the contrarily, the NSE Oil & Gas Index and NSE Banking Index shed 0.8 per cent and 0.5 per cent in that order.
