Omobayo Azeez
Equities were back in black in midweek trading at the Nigerian Stock Exchange where sentiments over government announced fiscal strategy saw investors gaining N52 billion on their investments, and bringing to a dramatic end consecutive days of decline when the bears held sway with red marks in many places on the board.
Market dealers ascribed the development to the announcement made Tuesday by Zainab Ahmed, Nigeria’s minister of finance, budget and national planning, in Abuja unfolding the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).
Among other things, the presentation showed the federal government has projected a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 2.93 percent and a revenue profile of N7.634 trillion for the 2020 budget.
Analysts said that the market reacted to the development positively as the disclosure intimate investors on government’s fiscal strategies in years to come and expectations on the economy in the medium term.
Consequently, market performance indices rebounded by 0.4% to see the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index (NSEASI) add 105.65 points to close at 27,153.65 bps while market capitalisation appreciated by N52 billion to end the midweek session at N13.210 trillion.
The bulls also dominated the market as 19 advancing stocks emerged against 13 decliners while 16 others closed on unchanged share prices.
The gain notwithstanding, turnover for the session closed lower as volume and value traded shrank, compared with the previous day, by 41.92% and 70.18% with 211.522 million share units valued at N145 billion that exchanged hands in 4,365 deals.
Nestlé Nigeria Plc gained N40 and closed at N1,120 to lead 18 other gainers; SEPLAT followed with N24 gain to close at N450, while CCNN’s share price appreciated by N0.25 to close at N16.50.
Similarly, May&Baker gained N0.19 and FCMB Plc added N0.09 to close at N2.09 and N1.54 respectively.
On the flip side, Guinness Nigeria Plc shed N0.30 and closed at N37 to emerge the day’s biggest loser while Stanbic and Flour Mills shed N0.25 each to close at N35.75 and N13.25 respectively. Dangote Flour and UACN share prices declined by N0.15 each to close at N22.10 and N6.05 respectively.
In terms of traded volume, the day’s activities were led by CourtVille stock which sold 35.204 million shares at N7.739 million, Sterling Bank Plc with 34.694 million shares at N78.739 million and Access Bank Plc, selling 29.948 million shares valued at N208.421 million to close the session.
