Bargain hunting in Nestle, Seplat, Access, Eterna helps Nigerian equities reverse losses with N145bn profit

Omobayo Azeez

The Nigerian equities market compensated for the points it shed in the previous three trading sessions so far this week after it rebounded on Thursday with a gain of N145 billion which softened the year-to-date returns of the market to -12.11 percent.

The gain of the day was inspired by bargain hunting on the shares of 16 stocks led by Nestle plc, SEPLAT Plc, Total Plc, ACCESS Plc and ETERNA Plc.
The market had maintained a downtrend since the commencement of activities this week recording N24 billion, N145 billion and N34 billion losses on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday respectively.

As the bulls fought back on Thursday however, market performance indices had an uptick by 1.09 per cent and the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index (NSEASI) gained 296.68 points to close at 27,579.85 bps while the valuation of the market equally rose to N13.426 trillion to close the session.

However, market turnover was low as volume and value traded pulled back by 60.32 per cent and 63.01 per cent respectively as 183.47 million shares worth N2.93 billion were traded in 2,576 transactions.

Market analysts said the hike in market activity dwindled as bargain hunters strove to stay afloat sell pressure.

Although, the higher turnover recorded in the previous session was ascribed to sell pressure and it failed to bring respite.

Analysts at APT Securities and Fund held that the higher turnover in the previous session suggested selling down on stocks by investors to reduce risk exposure, and thus, moved a total of 462 million to 7.92 billion.

“We expect to see a flip into the green region in the next trading session (Thursday) on the back of bargain hunting,” the analysts had predicted.

As the market breadth favoured the bulls, who outnumbered the bears in ratio 16 to nine, Nestle Plc topped the chart by gaining N121.50 to close at N1,336.50 per share. SEPLAT followed with N46 gain to close at N506 and TOTAL Plc occupied the third place with a gain of N10 to close at N110 per share.

Other gainers include Access Bank Plc and ETERNA, appreciating by N0.50 and N0.20 to close the day at N7.70 and N3.20 per share respectively.

On the flip side, Forte Oil Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and CUSTODIAN shed N1.15, N0.30 and N0.30 to close at N15.80, N27.95 and N6 respectively.

Other decliners of the day include Dangote Flour Plc and Honeywell Flour Plc, losing N0.10 and N0.06 to close at N22.20 and N0.95 per share in that order.

Investors’ toast for the day are ACCESS, GUARANTY and Transcorp, trading 67.315 million shares, 23.156 million share and 14.075 million shares valued at N509.826 million, N651.698 million and N14.289 million respectively.