Nigerian Exchange Swells over Sustain Positioning
Economic reforms induced rally continues to force rerating of Tier-1 banking counters. The increased positioning by equities investors resulted in a further surge in the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).
opened the week on a positive note. Investors’ wealth went up by N8.29 billion, while year-to-date return surged above 15%, outperforming debt capital market yield in spite of rising inflation and interest rate.
Generally, analysts agreed that the forex market liberalisation is a major catalyst driving an upward moment in the Nigerian bourse. There has been particular interest in banking stocks, which most analysts’ estimates suggest have been underpriced.
NGX key performance indicators increased slightly as bulls and bears ruffle feathers. At the close of the trading session in the local bourse, year-to-date returns inched higher to 15.15%
Market data showed that All-Share Index grew marginally by 15.16 basis points, representing an increase of +0.03% to close at 59,016.12 points, Similarly, market activities were up, as the total volume and total value traded increased by +43.46% and +71.22% respectively.
Approximately 892.95 million units valued at ₦11,147.30 million were transacted in 9,274 deals, Atlass Portfolios Limited said in a market note shared with investors.
JAIZBANK was the most traded stock in terms of volume, accounting for 15.69% of the total volume of trades. The Islamic lender was followed by STERLINGNG (11.84%), UNIVINSURE (10.67%), GTCO (9.40%), and UBA (6.74%) to complete the top 5 on the volume chart.
A financial service holdings company, GTCO, was the most traded stock in value terms, with 23.78% of the total value of trades on the exchange. TANTALIZER and UNIVINSURE both topped the advancers’ chart with a price appreciation of 10.00 percent each, trailed by UNITYBNK (9.80%), MBENEFIT (+9.76%), FTNCOCOA (+9.63%), GOLDBREW (+9.43%), and thirty-eight others.
Twenty-one stocks depreciated, where ELLAHLAKES was the top loser, with a price depreciation of -10.00% to close at ₦3.24. TRANSCORP shed 5.71%, NASCON lost 5.56%, UNILEVER went down by 4.46%, OKOMUOIL tumbled by 3.98%, and MTNN plunged by 3.28% among other counters.
Despite a mixed trading record, the market breadth closed positive, recording 44 gainers and 21 losers. In addition, the market sector performance closed positive, as four out of the five major market sectors were up.
The banking index led with a +2.92% gain, followed by the Insurance sector (+1.19%), the Industrial sector (+0.66%), and the Consumer goods (+0.15%), while the Oil & Gas sector was unchanged. Overall, equities market capitalisation surged by ₦8.26 billion to close at ₦32,134.57 trillion from ₦32,126.31 trillion last Friday. # Nigerian Exchange Swells over Sustain Positioning Naira Steadies as Banks Issue Update on FX Purchase
