Aradel, Zenith Bank Drive NGX Rally, Investors Gain N93.45bn
Buying interest in Aradel Holdings, Zenith Bank, and others drove the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) uptrend on Tuesday. The stock market key performance indicators improved, though the market witnesses some portfolio adjustment in some overbought stocks.
The market index climbed by 0.09% to close at 166,256.82 points, supported by some position taking in the banking, insurance and industrial indices. Stockbrokers reported that equities market capitalization increased by N93.48 billion to N106.44 trillion, with 39 gainers outpacing 25 losers.
Today’s performance was buoyed by price upticks in ARADEL (+5.68%), MECURE (+6.45%), ZENITHBANK (+0.84%), and CHAMPION (+8.83%), outweighing the impact of selloffs in lenders: GTCO (-2.46%), FIRSTHOLDCO (-1.96%), and JAIZBANK (-9.88%).
In the same vein, market breadth closed positive at 1.56x, with 39 gainers outnumbering 25 laggards. NPFMCRFBK (+10.00%), DEAPCAP (+10.00%), and REDSTAREX (+10.00%) topped the gainers’ log, while ALEX (-9.95%) led the laggards.
Trading activity was mixed, as volume and value traded increased by 26.34% and 35.39% to 795.46 million units and N19.98 billion, respectively, while the number of deals declined by 21.51% to 45,410, indicating selective accumulation in high-volume stocks.
TANTALIZER topped the volume chart with 87.0 million units (10.9% of volume traded) trading on the board, while GTCO led the value log with trades worth N3.8 billion (19.0% of value traded).
Sectoral performance was largely positive, with four indices closing higher. The Insurance index (+2.80%) led the indices as investors acquired NEM (+9.03%).
This was followed by the Oil & Gas (+2.40%) and Commodity (+1.22%) indices, both supported by demand for ARADEL (+5.68%).
The Consumer Goods index (+0.03%) edged higher, driven by buying interest in CHAMPION (+8.83%). In contrast, the Banking index (-0.69%) declined due to profit-taking in GTCO (-2.46%), while the Industrial Goods index closed flat. Geregu Power Declares Dividend Amidst Tight Earnings Performance
