The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) kicked off the new trading week on a bullish note as the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 0.07 percent, adding 94.27 points to close at 144,722.47 basis points. This uptick pushed the market capitalization higher by about N61 billion, settling at N91.56 trillion and extending the year-to-date return to an impressive 40.61 percent.
The positive performance was largely driven by price gains in heavyweight stocks, including Access Holdings (Accesscorp), MTN Nigeria (MTNN), United Bank for Africa (UBA), Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), and Dangote Sugar. Despite the overall bullish close, trading activity reflected a mixed outcome, with investors exchanging 1.05 billion shares worth N15.05 billion in 38,137 deals. While this marked a 24 percent drop in volume compared to the previous session, it also represented an 8 percent rise in turnover and a 19 percent increase in the number of deals.
In terms of market movers, Universal Insurance emerged as the most traded stock by volume with 202.25 million shares, while Champion Breweries led in value with transactions worth N1.16 billion. Other significant value contributors included GTCO with N1.05 billion, Zenith Bank with N987.76 million, Aradel Holdings at N945.58 million, and Accesscorp with N829.71 million. Market breadth was positive, with 43 gainers against 27 losers. UPDC and Aiico Insurance led the advancers’ chart with 10 percent each, closing at N7.15 and N4.18 per share respectively.
Conversely, Stanbic IBTC Holdings topped the losers’ chart after declining 9.99 percent to N100.00 per share. Other major laggards included PZ Cussons, which lost 7.89 percent to close at N35.00; NEM Insurance, down 7.85 percent to N29.95; and Chams, which dropped 5.26 percent to N2.70 per share.
Overall, 127 securities were traded on the floor of the exchange. While the NGX recorded a marginal one-week decline of 0.79 percent, it maintained a strong four-week rally of 9.78 percent, underlining renewed investor confidence in Nigeria’s equity market.
Source: The sun