Investor interest in MTN, Transcorp Hotel boosts market by N29bn

Opening the week, renewed investor interests in the stocks of MTN Nigeria and Transcorp Hotel on Monday drove the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market capitalization up by N29 billion.

Other primary drivers of the overall market’s performance included Berger Paints, PZ Cussons, Unity Bank, AIICO Insurance, and Nigerian Breweries, among other advanced equities.

Specifically, the market capitalization, which opened at N55,507 trillion, gained N29 billion, or 0.05 percent, to close at N55.536 trillion.

The All-Share Index also rose by 0.05 per cent or 51 points to settle at 98,176.58, in contrast to 98,125.73 recorded on Friday.

Consequently, the Year-To-date (YTD) return rose to 31.30 per cent.

However, the market breadth closed negative, with 28 losers equities outnumbering 13 gainers

On the losers’ table, Champion led by 10 percent to close at N2.97, and C&I Leasing Plc followed closely by 9.80 percent to close at N9.80 per share.

Sovereign Trust Insurance lost 9.76 percent to close at 37k, Chams declined by 9.64 percent to close at N1.50, and RT Briscoe depreciated by 9.62 percent to close at 47k per share.

Conversely, McNichols Plc led the gainers’ table by 10 percent to close at N1.10, and Berger Paints trailed by 9.72 percent to close at N13.55 per share.

Regency Alliance Insurance went up by 9.68 percent to close at 34k, WAPIC advanced by 6.15 percent to close at 69k, and Cornerstone Insurance gained five percent to close at N2.10 per share.

Also, the analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 28.98 percent.

A total of 405.66 million shares valued at N6.69 billion were exchanged in 8,439 deals, as against 140.77 million shares worth N9.42 billion in 6,934 deals traded on Friday.

Access Corporation led the activity table in volume and value with 201.31 million shares valued at N3.41 billion, while Transnational Corporation traded 38.21 million shares at N435.75 million.

Zenith Bank sold 15.26 million shares worth N484.71 million; Nigerian Breweries transacted 13.74 million shares valued at N316.28 million; and Jaiz Bank sold 13.68 million shares worth N30.22 million.

Meanwhile, equity market analysts predicted that investors would trade cautiously this week.

The analysts predicted that trading on the exchange this week would be driven by the outcome of the anticipated Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting that started from Monday to Tuesday.

They said investors would also react to the inflation figures announced last week by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

At Cowry Asset Management, the analysts said that the market is expected to maintain a weak sentiment as investors continue to digest the latest economic data from the statistics bureau.

They said that the anticipated outcome of the MPC meeting, likely to result in a modest 100 basis point rate hike, could further dampen market sentiment.

At Cordros Capital, the analysts predicted that investors would focus on the outcome of the MPC meeting to gain further clarity on yield movements in the fixed-income market.

“Consequently, we anticipate cautious trading from domestic investors in the short term,” they said.