The Nigeria stock market closed on a positive note on Tuesday April 7 as investors showed interest in a number of fundamentally sound stocks seen trading at lower bands.
Foremost among the said stocks is MTNN which occupied topmost position on the gainers list. The Telco share price increased from N92 to N94.8, adding N2.8 or 3.04percent.
“We expect sentiment for stocks to remain broadly tepid, with renewed interests anticipated on select blue-chip stocks, as discerning investors continue to take advantage of the current market valuation”, said research analysts at Lagos-based United Capital.
From a preceding day low of N10.772trillion listed stocks value increased by N133billion to N10.905trillion at the close of remote trading session.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) increased to 20,925.19 points from preceding trading day low of 20, 669.38points. Year-to-date (ytd), the market has recorded negative return of -22.04percent, while this month of April, the market has lost 1.76percent of its value.
“With declines in the price of a number of fundamentally sound stocks, we expect some cherry picking at the beginning of the week though the performance of the index still largely depends on events around the continued spread of the Coronavirus pandemic as well as happenings in the Crude oil market”, equity research analysts at Vetiva said in their April 6 note to investors.
Brent Crude Oil Futures was $33.09 per barrel as at close 4pm Nigerian time on Tuesday.
Also on the gainers table include Lafarge Africa plc which rallied from N9.8 to N10.75, adding 95kobo or 9.69percent. In 4,647 deals, investors exchanged 1,442,572,439 units valued at N5.569billion. Banking stocks were actively traded –led by GTBank, Zenith, FBNH, and UBA.
Ardova Plc recorded the biggest decline, from N13.8 to N12.45, shedding N1.35 or 9.78percent; while Cadbury Nigeria Plc dipped from N7 to N6.3, losing 70kobo or 10percent.
Iheanyi Nwachukwu
