Nigerian Exchange Rises by N369bn as GTCO, Zenith Rally

Nigerian Exchange Rises by N369bn as GTCO, Zenith Rally

Nigerian Exchange, NGX, market capitalisation rose by about N369 billion as banking stocks caught investors’ attention after sell pressure last week. The local equities market kicked off the week on a positive note, fuelled by renewed buying interest in GTCO, Zenith, and other financial stocks.

Today, the Nigerian Exchange All-Share index advanced by 56 basis points to close at 105,551.39 points, while the market capitalisation added N369.0 billion to reach N66.19 trillion.

Reversing the previous selldown, the release of audited financials and dividend announcement from UBA spurred positive sentiments in the banking sector. Major market movers that soared included GTCO (+6.53%), ZENITHBANK (+5.04%), FIRSTHOLDCO (+5.74%), and UBA (+2.72%).

The equities market sentiment strengthened, with market breadth printing at 1.14x. The Nigerian bourse recorded 25 gainers narrowly outpaced 22 laggards.

Trading activity was strong, with the number of deals and trading volume rising by 31.83% and 10.90%, respectively, despite a 26.12% drop in transaction value. In total, 440.52 million shares worth N10.47 billion were traded across 13,314 transactions.

ROYALEX (+10.00%) championed the gainers chart, while NEM (-9.63%) led the laggards Market participation was mixed, with total volume traded increasing by 10.90% to 440.52 million units, while total value traded declined by 26.12% to N10.5 billion.

ZENITHBANK led both the volume and value charts, with 55.1 million units traded (12.50% of total volume) valued at N2.6 billion (24.88% of total value).

“We did see a block trade in FCMB (+5.56%) of 42.5 million units at N9.00 per share”, CardinalStone Limited said in its market update.

Stockbrokers noted that sectoral indices were mostly positive, with three out of five sectors closing higher. The banking sector (+3.78%) led the charge, as all but one banking stock posted gains, spearheaded by GTCO (+6.53%).

The oil & Gas (+0.39%) and consumer goods (+0.07%) indices also edged higher, driven by gains in OANDO (+3.92%) and NB (+0.75%), respectively.

However, the Insurance (-1.49%) and Industrial Goods (-0.01%) indices lagged, weighed down by selloffs in NEM (-9.63%) and CUTIX (-4.96%). The commodity index remained unchanged. #Nigerian Exchange Rises by N369bn as GTCO, Zenith Rally Seplat Energy Trades Flat Despite Price Sensitive Corporate Actions