Following sentiments over government’s announcement of fiscal strategy, investors in the equities market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange withdrew N52bn on their investments.
This development, however, ended consecutive days of decline when the bears held sway, with red marks in many places on the board.
Traders ascribed the development to the announcement on Tuesday by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, unfolding the 2020 to 2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.
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Among other things, the presentation showed that the Federal Government projected a Gross Domestic Product growth of 2.93 per cent and a revenue profile of N7.634tn for the 2020 budget.
Analysts said that the market reacted to the development positively, as the disclosure intimated investors on government’s fiscal strategies in years to come and expectations on the economy in the medium term.
Consequently, market performance indices rebounded by 0.4 per cent to see the NSE All-Share Index add 105.65 points to close at 27,153.65 basis points, while market capitalisation appreciated by N52bn to end the midweek session at N13.21tn.
The bulls also dominated the market as 19 advancing stocks emerged against 13 decliners, while 16 others closed on unchanged share prices.
The gain notwithstanding, turnover for the session closed lower as volume and value traded shrank, compared with the previous day, by 41.92 per cent and 70.18 per cent with 211.522m share units valued at N145bn that exchanged hands in 4,365 deals.
Nestlé Nigeria gained N40 and closed at N1,120 to lead 18 other gainers, SEPLAT followed with N24 to close at N450, while Cement Company Northern Nigeria’s share price appreciated by N0.25 to close at N16.50.
Similarly, May & Baker gained N0.19 to close at N2.09 and First City Monument Bank added N0.09 to close at N1.54.
On the flip side, Guinness Nigeria shed N0.30 and closed at N37 to emerge the day’s biggest loser, while Stanbicand Flour Mills shed N0.25 each to close at N35.75 and N13.25 respectively. Dangote Flour and United Africa Company of Nigeria share prices declined by N0.15 each to close at N22.10 and N6.05 respectively.
In terms of traded volume, the day’s activities were led by CourtVille stock which sold 35.204m shares at N7.739m, Sterling Bank with 34.694m shares at N78.739m and Access Bank selling 29.948m shares valued at N208.421m to close the session.
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