Nigerian bourse up 0.11% Thursday
Proceedings in the Nigerian equities market turned positive on Thursday as the market All-Share Index (ASI) inched up 0.11 per cent to 32,417.82 points, following interest across major consumer goods counters.
As a result, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses moderated to -1.06% and -15.23%, respectively.
The Consumer Goods (+0.39%) index was the sole gainer among major sectoral indices, owing to investor interest in NESTLE (+0.68%) and FLOURMILL (+7.60%) shares.
On the flip side, the Insurance (-0.88%), Oil & Gas (-0.61%), Banking (-0.59%), and Industrial Goods (-0.03%) indices closed in the red, following selloffs in the shares of CONTINSURE (-9.40%), FO (-8.37%), UBA (-1.83%), and FIRSTALUM (-5.71%) respectively.
Market breadth was flat with 15 gainers and losers apiece, led by NIGERINS (+10.00%) and CONTINSURE (-9.40%) shares respectively.
Total volume and value of trades rose by 10.37 per cent and 47.70 per cent to 148.53 million units and NGN2.86 billion, respectively, exchanged in 2,857 deals.
“The absence of a positive catalyst and political concerns ahead of the 2019 election guide our conservative outlook for equities in the short-to-medium term. However, stable macroeconomic fundamentals remain supportive of recovery in the long term”. Analysts at Cordros Capital said.
