By Munachimso Obienyi
Market analysts have said investors could bargain hunt for stocks trading on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) this week.
This is coming after the stock market had gained N116.05billion in market capitalisation primarily driven by a rally in BUA Cement Plc on Tuesday.
Bargain hunting implies that a stock is worth less than it should be and is therefore undervalued.
As investors gained N116.05 billion in value as market capitalisation went up to N25.908 trillion, the All Share Index (ASI) rose by 214.49 basis points or 0.45 per cent to close at 47,55.92 basis points.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; BUA Cement, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group), May & Baker Nigeria, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and United Capital.
Reacting to the development, analysts at United capital said, “This week, United Capital Plc expects continued bearish sentiment to dominate the market, given the high-yield environment. However, investors will continue to hunt growth stocks”.
For their part, analysts at Afrinvest, said, “In the next trading session, we expect bargain hunting activities to sustain the positive performance”
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative, as 15 stocks lost relative to 12 gainers. May & Baker Nigeria recorded the highest price gain of 9.76 per cent to close at N4.05, per share. Ikeja Hotel followed with a gain 9.73 per cent to close at N1.24, while BUA Cement went up by 8.65 per cent to close at N56.50, per share.
Cornerstone Insurance went up by 8.00 per cent to close at 54 kobo, while Unity Bank appreciated by 7.32 per cent to close at 44 kobo, per share.
On the other hand, University Press led the losers’ chart by 8.54 per cent to close at N1.50, per share. Cadbury Nigeria followed with a decline of 6.94 per cent to close at N11.40, while FTN Cocoa processors went down by 6.67 to close at 28 kobo, per share.
Caverton Offshore Support Group lost 5.94 per cent to close at 95 kobo, while Cutix shed 4.63 per cent to close at N2.06, per share.
The total volume of trades declined by 8.5 per cent to 125.65 million units, valued at N1.90 billion, and exchanged in 4,188 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) topped the activity chart with 38.865 million shares valued at N659.095 million. FBN Holdings (FBNH) followed with 22.827 million shares worth N216.872 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 9.608 million shares valued at N10.075 million.
