Bullish Rally Propels Equities Trading To N197bn Profit

The domestic equities market, yesterday, sustained positive performance as the overall capitalisation rose by N197 billion, following price uptick in Aradel Holdings Plc and 14 others.

The All-Share Index (ASI) gained 325.80 points, representing a gain of 0.33 per cent to close at 98,540.93 points. Also, market capitalisation rose by N197 billion to close at N59.707 trillion.

The positive performance was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Aradel Holdings, Oando, Eterna and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO).

Looking ahead, United Capital said, “we expect mixed sentiments to persist in the equities market. As a result of the stubborn nature of inflation, particularly fuelled by elevated exchange rate environment. We expect this hike to play a background role in the market, with investors and equity-biased fund managers adopting a more cautious approach to trading.

“This approach involves a strict restriction of trading activities to only equities with solid fundamentals who are set for sustained profitability in full year, 2024 financials. In the same vein, corporates with pending corporate actions will continue to outperform (in terms of positive market sentiments), presenting trading opportunities (in-and-out scenarios).”

Market breadth closed negative as 15 stocks gained relative to 28 losers. Champion Breweries emerged the highest price gainer of 9.97 per cent to close at N3.42, per share. Tantalizer followed with a gain of 9.09 per cent to close at 60 kobo, while Oando rose by 7.93 per cent to close at N77.60, per share.

Aradel Holdings increased by 6.09 per cent to close at N820.00, while Eterna added 4.86 per cent to close at N25.90, per share. On the other side, Caverton Offshore Support Group led the losers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at N2.34, per share. Tripple Gee & Company followed with a decline of 9.95 per cent to close at N1.81, while C&I Leasing shed 9.80 per cent to close at N3.59, per share.

Jaiz Bank depreciated by 9.21 per cent to close at N2.17, while Deap Capital Management & Trust down by 9.09 per cent to close at N1.20, per share. The total volume traded declined by 6.2 per cent to 286.045 million units, valued at N26.817 billion, and exchanged in 9,650 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Access Holdings led the activity with 45.945 million shares worth N928.510 billion. Zenith Bank followed with account of 30.379 million shares valued at N1.139 billion, while Aradel Holdings traded 25.020 million shares valued at N20.756 billion.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 16.862 million shares worth N412.927 million, while Veritas Kapital Assurance traded 15.133 million shares worth N22.737 million.