Nigerian Exchange Grows by N614bn on Waves Bumps, Rallies
Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalisation grew by about N614 billion over waves of bumps and rallies in the local bourse. The market saw upward and downward movements in the equities segment driven by investor sentiment that pushed key performance indicators upward.
Investor sentiment was boosted as April 2025 inflation eased to 23.71%, reinforcing expectations of a more accommodative monetary policy stance ahead of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for May 19–20.
In its note, Cowry Asset Limited also hinted that the optimism was further supported by anticipation surrounding the release of Nigeria’s first-quarter 2025 GDP figures, which will reflect the newly rebased economic methodology. The Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index appreciated by 0.90% week-on-week to close at 109,710.37 points, having touched an intraday high of 109,850.83 points on Thursday.
“This performance was underpinned by strong investor interest across sectors and the continued undervaluation of several equities, resulting in multiple stocks reaching new 52-week highs”, Cowry Asset Limited said.
Given the uptrend reported, the market capitalization rose by N613.99 billion to close at N68.95 trillion. Consequently, the year-to-date return on the Exchange stood at 6.59%. Market breadth was strong, with 61 gainers against 31 losers, translating to a breadth ratio of 1.97x. Despite the upbeat market sentiment, trading activity weakened over the week.
The total volume of shares traded declined by 1.66% to 2.60 billion units, while the total value of trades dropped by 17.32% to N63.66 billion. The number of deals also fell by 10.15% to 77,370, suggesting a quieter trading environment despite improved market breadth.
All sectoral indices recorded gains, reflecting widespread investor optimism. The consumer goods index led the pack with a 4.08% gain, supported by positive price movements in CHAMPION, NNFM, MAYBAKER, and HONYFLOUR.
This was followed by the insurance index, which advanced by 2.47%, while the banking index gained 1.19%.
The oil and gas index rose by 0.66%, while both the industrial and commodity indices posted marginal gains of 0.13% and 0.14%, respectively. Key drivers of sectoral performance included strong buy-side activity in BETAGLASS, OANDO, CORNERSTONE, ACCESSCORP, and BERGER PAINTS.
Among the week’s top performers were BETAGLASS, which gained 46.3%, followed by CHAMPION with 42.10%, CAVERTON with 37.7%, FTNCOCOA with 36.3%, and NNFM with 32.5%. On the flip side, MULTIVERSE led the laggards with a 19.5% decline, trailed by UNIONDICON at 11.8%, NAHCO at 9.6%, UPL at 8.9%, and LEGENDINT at 6.7%.
“We expect bullish momentum to persist into the coming week as investors continue to digest the implications of the inflation cooldown and position ahead of a possible interest rate cut by the CBN”, Cowry Asset Limited said.
Stockbrokers hinted that with expectations of further policy support and improving macroeconomic indicators, sentiment is likely to remain upbeat. #GTCO Slides to N2.341trn amidst Substantial Block Trades
