Equities Market Maintains Bullish Trend, Records N7bn Gain In Midweek Trading

The Nigerian equities market yesterday closed with a gain of N7 billion, extending the cautious rebound observed in the previous session.

The All Share Index (ASI) gained 10.77 points, representing a growth of 0.01 per cent to close at 166,267.60 points. Also, market capitalisation gained N7 billion to close at N106.443 trillion.

The upturn was driven by gains in medium- and large-capitalised stocks, including NCR Nigeria, Julius Berger Nigeria, Fidson Healthcare, May & Baker Nigeria, and Vitafoam Nigeria.

“We expect investors to trade cautiously, focusing on fundamentally strong stocks with attractive valuations,” analysts at Futureview stated.

Market breadth remained positive, with 54 advancing stocks outpacing 24 declining counters. McNichols, NCR Nigeria and R.T. Briscoe (Nigeria) followed with gains of 10 per cent each to close at N6.93, N171.05 and N4.95 per share, respectively.

Jaiz Bank followed with a gain of 9.99 per cent to close at N7.93, while May & Baker Nigeria rose by 9.95 per cent to close at N43.65 per share.

On the other hand, Champion Breweries led the losers’ chart by 9.31 per cent to close at N19.00 per share. Secure Electronic Technology followed with a decline of 6.78 per cent to close at N1.10, while Wapic Insurance declined by 6.69 per cent to close at N3.35 per share.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) depreciated by 6.00 per cent to close at N47.00, while AXA Mansard Insurance declined by 5.63 per cent to close at N15.10 per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded rose by 3.43 per cent to 822.737 million units, valued at N24.931 billion, and exchanged in 43,548 deals. Transactions in the shares of Zichis Agro-Allied Industries topped the activity chart with 69.224 million shares valued at N150.908 million. Secure Electronic Technology followed with 54.797 million shares worth N61.913 million, while Access Holdings traded 40.111 million shares valued at N917.762 million.

Zenith Bank traded 38.111 million shares valued at N2.742 billion, while Tantalizer sold 33.063 million shares worth N125.972 million.