Equities Investors See N17bn Gain as Banking Index Rally

Equities Investors See N17bn Gain as Banking Index Rally

Equities investors trading highs and lows on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) saw a N17 billion gain on Monday as investors picked interest in Bankng stock, which pushed the index higher in anticipation of the second quarter of 2024 earnings release.

The gain lifted market capitalisation to N56.945 trillion from N56.928 trillion recorded on Friday. The all-share index inched up by a marginal 3 basis points to close at 100,568.60 points due to investors’ demand for stocks like ZENITHBANK (+1.35%), JBERGER (+5.71%), and ETI (+1.85%), which outweighed selloffs in UCAP (-4.07%) and OANDO (-3.56%).

The All-Share Index, which opened at 100,539.40, also advanced by 0.03 percent, or 29 points, to settle at 100,568.60. Consequently, the year-to-Date (YTD) return rose to 34.50 percent. Meanwhile, market breadth closed positive with 23 gainers and 15 losers. Tantalizers led the gainers’ chart by 8.89 percent to close at 49k, Livestock Feed Plc followed by 8.18 percent to close at N2.38 per share.

Neimeth rose by 8.05 percent to close at N1.88, McNichols gained 7.92 percent to close at N1.09 and Julius Berger advanced by 5.71 percent to close at N92.50 per share. Conversely, Caverton led the losers’ chart by 9.68 percent to close at N1.40, Royal Exchange trailed by 6.94 percent to close at 67k per share.

Veritas Kapital declined by 4.72 percent to close at N1.01, International Breweries went down by 4.42 percent to close at N3.68, while Honeywell Flour dropped 4.23 percent to close at N3.17 per share. Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 59.44 percent.

A total of 335.70 million shares valued at N3.72 billion were exchanged in 8,760 deals, compared to 603.88 million shares valued at N9.16 billion exchanged in 9,988 deals recorded on Friday. Ellahlakes led the activity chart in volume with 110.68 million shares worth N332.02 million, followed by Universal Insurance with 21.89 million shares valued at N7.48 million.

United Capital traded 20.07 million shares worth N778.61 million to lead the chart in value, Veritas Kapital sold 19.45 million shares worth N20.19 million. First City Monument Bank (FCMB) transacted 14.73 million shares worth N112.20 million. On sectoral performance, the banking index (0.45%) was the only index to close in positive territory as the market saw upticks in ZENITHBANK (+1.35%).

Elsewhere, the Consumer Goods (-0.11%), Insurance (-0.10%), and Oil and Gas (-0.01%) indices all closed in red following profit-taking activities in INTBREW (-4.42%), VERITASKAP (-4.72%), and OANDO (-3.56%), respectively. #Equities Investors See N17bn Gain as Banking Index Rally Nigeria, Angola Inflation Highest in Frontier Markets -Report