Buy Interest in Aradel Holdings, 34 Others Lift Stock Market by N330.24bn

Kayode Tokede 

The Nigerian stock market yesterday commenced the new week on a positive note as investors’ high demand for Aradel Holdings Plc and 34 others pushed the market  capitalisation higher by N330.24 billion.

As Aradel Holdings gained 9.13per cent to close at N600.20 per share, the Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index (NGX ASI) gained 544.57  basis points or 0.55 per cent to close at 99,922.63 basis  points. Also, market capitalisation rose by N330 billion to close at N60.572 trillion.

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth closed positive as 35 stocks advanced, while 25 declined. Royall Exchange and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank emerged the highest price gainer of 10 per cent each to close at 66 kobo and N3.30 respectively, while International Breweries followed with a gain of 9.90 per cent to close at N4.55, per share.

Guinea Insurance rose by 9.84 per cent to close at 67 kobo, while Caverton Offshore Support Group appreciated by 9.60 per cent to close at N2.17, per share. On the other side, University Press led others on the losers’ chart with 9.81 per cent to close at N3.77, per share. Haldane McCall followed with a decline of 9.62 per cent to close at N4.70, while International Energy Insurance shed 9.52 per cent to close at N1.33, per share.

ABC Transports declined by 8.70 per cent to close at N1.05, while Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 8.24 per cent to close at 78 kobo, per share.

The total volume traded advanced 36.13 per cent to 740.89 million units, valued at N16.88 billion, and exchanged in 10,430 deals. Transactions in the shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Company led the activity with 196.970 million shares worth N955.519 billion. Wema Bank followed with an account of 150.445 million shares valued at N1.326 billion, while e-Tranzact International traded 70.097 million shares valued at N473.165 million.

Access Holdings traded 20.479 million shares worth N491.931 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 17.612 million shares worth N589.037 million.

 Looking forward, United Capital Plc said “the equities market is expected to retain its buy interest as investors cherry-pick undervalued stocks. However, given the high interest rates in the fixed income and money markets, we expect some bearish undertone to persist in the equities market as fixed income biased investors take advantage of the high yields in the fixed income space. Nevertheless, the Bulls will remain incentivized to persist in bargain hunting, given the tremendous mid-long-term opportunities in the equities market.”