Equities Market Gains N410bn On Continuous Bullish Trend

The Nigerian equities market closed yesterday trading on a positive note with a gain of N410 billion, extending its upward trajectory for the fourth consecutive session in this year, as selective buying interest continued to support prices across the market.

As a result, the lead indicator, NGX All-Share Index advanced by 640.68 points or 0.40 per cent to close at 160,591.76 points. Also, market capitalisation gained N410 billion to close at N102.685 trillion.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Seplat Energy, Okomu Oil, Eunisell Interlinked, NCR Nigeria and Lafarge Africa.

On market outlook, Imperial Asset Managers Limited said, “near-term sentiment is expected to remain cautiously positive, supported by strong early-year momentum, improving market capitalization, and sustained interest in select mid- and large-cap stocks.

“However, the negative close in the Banking index and the slight deterioration in market breadth suggest increasing selectivity, as investors rotate out of recent outperformers and lock in profits.

“Going forward, market direction is likely to be driven by stock-specific fundamentals, earnings expectations, and sector rotation, with trading activity remaining mixed as participants balance optimism with profit-taking pressures.”

However, the market sentiment was bearish with 35 advancing stocks outweighed by 38 declining counters. Okomu Oil, Union Dicon Salt and Seplat Energy recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N1,204.50, N8.80 and N6,171.00 respectively, per share. NCR Nigeria followed with a gain of 9.97 per cent to close at N79.95, while McNichols rose by 9.93 per cent to close at N4.76, per share.

On the other hand, Cadbury Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N63.00, per share. Austin Laz & Company followed with a decline of 9.93 per cent to close at N5.08, while Aluminium Extrusion Industries declined by 9.91 per cent to close at N19.55, per share.

Haldane McCall depreciated by 9.85 per cent to close at N4.21, while FTN Cocoa Processors declined by 9.62 per cent to close at N6.01, per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded rose by 90.84 per cent to 1.441 billion units, valued at N20.695 billion, and exchanged in 49,286 deals. Transactions in the shares of Universal Insurance topped the activity chart with 804.114 million shares valued at N410.401 million. Linkage Assurance followed with 54.880 million shares worth N98.845 million, while Access Holdings traded 29.739 million shares valued at N691.536 million.

Ellah Lakes traded 26.507 million shares valued at N446.385 million, while Mutual Benefits Assurance sold 24.476 million shares worth N100.198 million.