Stock market opens week on a positive note as hunt for value persists

Nigeria’s equities market opened the holiday shortened week on a positive note, rising by 0.22 percent at the close of trading on Monday.

Stocks like Champion Breweries, Okomu Oil Palm, MRS, Living Trust Mortgage Bank, and Axa Mansard which rose respectively by 10 percent daily limit helped push the market higher.

The market furthered its rally after over N1.1trillion net capital gain last week pushed the benchmark performance indicator above 100,000 points.

Ahead of Monday’s trading, Lagos-based Vetiva research analysts said they anticipate further buy-side interest in the market this week, “with the banks leading the way”. They envisaged a positive start this week for the ASI.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation increased from preceding day’s 101,129.09 points and N61.303 trillion respectively to 101,356.15 points and N61.440 trillion.

Champion Breweries rose from N3.80 to N4.18, adding 38kobo or 10 percent. Okomu Oil Palm increased from N367 to N403.70, adding N36.70 or 10 percent. MRS moved from N180 to N198, up by N18 or 10 percent.

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Living Trust Mortgage Bank increased from N3.30 to N3.63, adding 33kobo or 10 percent, while Axa Mansard increased from N7.50 to N8.25, adding 75kobo or 10 percent.

GTCO, Japaul Gold, Zenith Bank, Universal Insurance and C & I Leasing were highly traded stocks. In 12,490 deals, investors exchanged 503,189,878 shares worth N16.271billion.

“This week, we anticipate continued interest in undervalued stocks as investors aim to capitalise on year-end opportunities and position their portfolios for the new year,” said Meristem research analysts in their December 23 note.

“Despite the allure of attractive fixed-income yields, we expect little or no negative impact on the equities market from the upcoming Treasury bills auction.

“Nonetheless, we recognise the potential for investors to engage in profit-taking on stocks that have seen gains in recent weeks as well as capitalising gains for the year.

“Overall, we expect the market to maintain its positive momentum this week,” Meristem analyst further said.