Stocks gain N411bn as investors buy Dangote Sugar, Nascon, others

Investors in Nigeria’s equities market booked about N411 billion gain on Monday, September 4 as the market rose by 1.11 percent at the close of trading. The market’s positive return year-to-date (YtD) has risen to 33.22 percent.

“Considering that there are many stocks trading at attractive discounts, we expect a mixed sentiment in the market this week,” Futureview research analysts said on Monday.

At the close of the trading session, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation rose from the preceding day’s 67,527.19 points and N36.958 trillion respectively to 68,279.14 points and N37.369trillion.

“In our view, the upbeat sentiment in the local bourse will be sustained this week, as investors further trade on ongoing corporate activities that present bargain-hunting opportunities.

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“Specifically, the full assessment of the restructuring terms in the Dangote Sugar and NASCON merger might further lure some investors to buy into these tickers,” according to Lagos-based Meristem Research analysts in their September 4 note.

“Also, the positive results from the banking tickers so far might be another attraction factor for the market this week. This, coupled with the expectation of interim dividend payments might trigger new rounds of bargain-hunting on the banking tickers.

“That notwithstanding, we acknowledge that the market rally over time has driven some tickers’ prices beyond fundamentally justifiable levels, which could lead to sell-offs on select stocks. On a balance of factors, we expect the overriding sentiment in the local bourse to remain positive this week,” Meristem research analysts added.

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Dangote Sugar Refinery led the league of gainers after rising from N60.50 to N66.55, up by N6.05 or 10 percent. NASCON increased from N55.60 to N61.15, up by N5.55 or 9.98 percent. John Holt moved up from N1.31 to N1.44, adding 13kobo or 9.92 percent.

Oando rose from N5.55 to N6.10, up by 55kobo or 9.91 percent, while LASACO increased from N1.98 to N2.17, up by 19kobo or 9.60 percent.

Regency Assurance, Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, UBA and Transcorp were actively traded stocks as investors in 11,934 deals exchanged 845,680,901 shares valued at N13.039 billion.