Nigerian Stocks Index Rises as Investors Book N67bn Gain
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index rose by eight basis points midweek as equity investors portfolio value gained about N67 billion. The local bourse extended its bullish trajectory on Wednesday, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) edging up by 0.08% to close at 132,557.43 points, trading data revealed.
Stockbrokers said the modest uptick lifted the year-to-date (YTD) return to 28.79%, reflecting persistent investor optimism and strengthening confidence in the resilience of the local bourse.
As a result, market capitalization increased by N66.8 billion to settle at N83.86 trillion, underscoring improved liquidity conditions and heightened interest in fundamentally sound stocks.
Despite the overall market gain, investor sentiment was moderately mixed, as evidenced by the slightly negative market breadth—29 stocks recorded gains while 37 declined—indicating a blend of bargain hunting and profit-taking activities.
Bargain hunting was fueled by growing investor optimism surrounding the half-year performance of companies, both those that have already released their results and those yet to report.
Trading activities inched lower today as the total volume and total value of all trades consummated decreased by 10.67% and 35.61% respectively. In its note, Atlass Portfolio Limited told investors that approximately 681.24 million units valued at N17,017.11 million were transacted across 26,931 deals.
In terms of volume, ACCESSCORP led the activity chart, accounting for 14.48% of the total volume of trades closed on the exchange, followed by ELLAHLAKES (8.98%), JAPAULGOLD (7.22%), ROYALEX (6.43%), and UNIVINSURE (4.71%), rounding out the top five.
ACCESSCORP also emerged as the most traded stock in value terms, accounting for 16.13% of the total value of all trades on the exchange. Top performers included Academy (+10.00%), The Initiates Plc (TIP, +9.98%), Ikeja Hotel (+9.95%), Enamelware (+9.84%), and NAHCO (+9.65%).
Conversely, major decliners were Austin Laz, Tripple G, Omatek, Daar Communications, and Multiverse. Sectoral performance was broadly positive, driven by renewed investor interest in key segments.
The banking (+0.44%), insurance (+0.13%), consumer goods (+0.30%), oil & gas (+0.21%), and commodity (+0.07%) sectors closed in the green, while the industrial goods sector declined by 0.62%. #Nigerian Stocks Index Rises as Investors Book N67bn Gain Liquidity Crunch in Banking System Keeps Rates Elevated
