Presco, Beta Glass, others cause NGX rally by 0.37% as week opens

Stocks like Presco, Beta Glass, Champion Breweries and other major advancers on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) caused the market to closed in green on Monday.

The market increased by 0.37 percent as the share price of Presco which recently joined the N1,000 per share league increased the most, from N1,100 to N1,210, adding N110 or 10percent.

“We expect the market to stay positive, supported by strategic moves from tier-one banks following the recent CBN circular, though the upcoming FGN bond auction may weigh on sentiment early in the week,” Futureview Research analysts said ahead of market close.

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Another major advancer, Beta Glass rose from N276 to N303.60, adding N27.60 or 10 percent, while Champion Breweries rose from N8.20 to N9.02, adding 82kobo or 10percent.

“Looking forward, the equities market might continue in its upward trend leading to a slight gain in the ASI. This is hinged on the market benefiting from the excess liquidity in the financial system. Similarly, investors might start positioning for Q2-earning season in June, favouring corporates with FX gains, cost control, clear growth trajectory, and those with potentials for quality interim dividend payment,” according to United Capital research analysts in their recent note.

On the flip side, they noted that a potential OMO auction and bonds auction might reduce the inflow of funds into the equities market “as elevated yields keep investors anchored to the fixed income market instruments”.

“Similarly, positive sentiments will be moderated by elevated inflation, heightened interest rate, weak Naira and general uncertainty in the global and domestic macroeconomic space. “We expect retail investors to continue to take profit from the previous week’s gains, tactically slowing the upward movement of the equities market. We advise investors to cherry-pick fundamentally sound stocks with potential for interim dividend payment,” United Capital analysts further said.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation increased from 118,138.22 points and N74.534 trillion respectively to 118,579.65 points and N74.812 trillion.

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In 22,206 deals, investors exchanged 653,656,598 shares valued at N21.327billion. Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, Nigerian Breweries, FTN Cocoa, and Access Holdings were actively traded stocks.