Bullish Sentiment Persists As NGX Market Cap Crosses N75trn

The Nigerian equities market yesterday sustained its upward trajectory, with the NGX overall capitalization crossed N75 trillion, reflecting sustained investor confidence.

The All Share Index (ASI) gained by 1,211.17 points, representing a growth of 1.02 per cent to close at 119,790.82 points. Accordingly, market capitalisation rose by N764 billion to close at N 75.576 trillion.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Okomu Oil, Presco, Beta Glass, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM) and Lafarge Africa.

On market outlook, Afrinvest Limited said, “we expect the positive performance to be sustained supported by upbeat investor sentiment.”

Market breadth remained firmly positive, with 61 stocks recording gains compared to 23 decliners. Beta Glass, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Okomu Oil and UPDC recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N333.95, N44.00, N748.00 and N3.30 respectively, per share.

Champion Breweries followed with a gain of 9.98 per cent each to close at N9.92, while Ellah Lakes and CWG rose by 9.90 per cent each to close at N6.44 and N10.55 respectively, per share.

On the other hand, Daar Communications led the losers’ chart by 7.81 per cent to close at 59 kobo, per share. Prestige Assurance followed with a decline of 5.56 per cent to close at N1.02, while Industrial and Medical Gases Nigeria declined by 4.30 per cent to close at N33.40, per share.

NPF Microfinance Bank depreciated by 4.25 per cent to close at N2.03 and Aradel Holdings declined by 4.06 per cent to close at N515.00, per share.

The total volume traded advanced by 35.27 per cent to 868.680 million units, valued at N23.709 billion, and exchanged in 22,207 deals. Transactions in the shares of LivingTrust Mortgage Bank topped the activity chart with 112.269 million shares valued at N415.675 million. Royal Exchange followed with 103.584 million shares worth N113.796 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 83.928 million shares valued at N1.634 billion.

Access Holdings traded 55.603 million shares valued at N1.263 billion, while Zenith Bank sold 34.211 million shares worth N1.768 billion.