NSE triggers circuit breaker as market index leaps by 6.23 per cent

The bulls continued to dominate activities in the Nigerian equities market, on Thursday, however, with a huge leap, as the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated above the set five per cent threshold, thus triggering the market’s circuit breaker, the first time since its introduction in 2016.

The introduction of the circuit paused trading activities for 30-minutes and upon the resumption of trading, activities kicked on from where they left off, and the ASI eventually settled at 35,342.46 points, translating to a whopping 6.23 per cent gain.

The Circuit Breaker clause introduced by the NSE in 2016 was developed to halt trading activities for 30 minutes to enable the operator to establish market fairness or otherwise, once the ASI increase/decrease reached a threshold of five per cent.

Basically, the ASI increased by 2,074.10 basis points, representing a growth of 6.23 per cent to close at 35,342.46 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation gained N1.084 trillion to close at N18.468 trillion.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Airtel Africa, Dangote Cement, Presco and Nigerian Breweries.

Capital market analysts noted that the equities market continued to enjoy the patronage of investors, especially from pension funds, following the collapse in stop rates to below 0.5 per cent for all maturities at the primary market auction.
Market breadth closed positive, recording 65 gainers and eight losers. C&I Leasing, Cadbury Nigeria, Cutix, Julius Berger, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM), Presco, Sterling Bank, BUA Cement and Airtel Africa recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each, to close at N4.51, N11.00, N2.09, N19.25, N7.70, N79.75, N2.42, N51.15 and N451.20, respectively, per share.

ALSO READ: FG commissions 150MVA 330/132KV Kumbotso transmission substation in Kano

Zenith Bank followed with a gain 9.96 per cent to close at N28.15, while Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals went up by 9.92 per cent to close at N2.66, per share.

On the other hand, Global Spectrum Energy Services led the losers’ chart by 9.89 per cent, to close at N4.19, per share. Eterna followed with a decline of 9.86 per cent to close at N4.57, while May and Baker Nigeria depreciated by 9.72 per cent to close at N3.25, per share.

Morison Industries shed 9.26 per cent to close at 49 kobo, while Regency Alliance Insurance and Union Diagnostic & Clinical Services depreciated by 7.69 per cent each, to close at 24 kobo, each, per share.

Also, the total volume traded increased by 39.044 per cent to 1.193 billion shares, worth N17.396 billion, and traded in 10,704 deals. Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 161.383 million shares valued at N4.463 million. FBN Holdings followed with 121.495 million shares worth N1.007 billion, while Access Bank traded 100.848 million shares valued at N992.773 million.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 80.454 million shares valued at N770.427 million, while Fidelity Bank transacted 79.500 million shares worth N239.481 million.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE