Stock market report: Market indices recover

Trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday ended on a positive as the market capitalisation, which opened at N13.710 trillion, added N40 billion to close at N13.750 trillion.

Also, the All-Share Index added 121.16 points or 0.29 per cent to close at 41,642.55 from the previous 41,521.40 ended on Tuesday.

A total of 468.9 million shares worth N3.84 billion were traded in 5,345 deals against 1.41 million shares valued at N8.47 billion exchanged in 5,686 deals on Tuesday.

Mobil topped the price gainers’ chart with N5.05 to close at N131.05 per share.

Dangote Cement came second, adding N3.40 to close at N230, while Conoil gained N2.85 to close at N59.85 per share.

Conversely, Nestle topped the price losers’ chart with N10.01 to close at N1,070 per share, while Wapco followed with a loss of N2.29 to close at N109.70. Unilever dipped by N1.05 to close at N49.60 per share.

MTI was the toast of investors, trading 200 million shares worth N100 million.

Transcorp sold 35.1 million shares valued at N150.9 million, while UBA sold 35.14 million shares worth N281.97 million.

Naira closes flat

The naira closed broadly flat on Wednesday, recovering from early losses after news of dollar sales by state-owned energy firm NNPC to banks filtered into the market.

The naira closed at 162.90 to the dollar, little changed from its close of N162.85 Tuesday.

It hit a day’s low of 163.45 to the dollar on Wednesday before rebounding on the news that NNPC had sold around $200 million to lenders toward the close of trading.

NNPC usually sells dollars to banks monthly, and accounts for around 70 per cent of total dollar volume traded on the interbank market

Brent oil rises

Brent rose on Wednesday, as US energy stockpiles fell underscoring a healthy outlook for demand from the world’s top oil consumer amid tensions in Iraq that threaten global supplies.

Brent futures added 50 cents to trade shy of 110 dollars a barrel, after shedding 0.4 per cent in the previous session.
U.S. oil was flat above 104 dollars.

It rose to an intra-day high of 105.06 dollars since the previous session, inching close to the high for the year at 105.22 dollars touched in early March.

FG raises N70bn bond

The federal government raised N70bn in three and 10-year bonds in an auction on Wednesday through the Debt Management Office.

The bonds, which will mature in August 2016 and March 2024 respectively, were issued in N35bn each, in the papers.