Bulls persist at NGX as equities investors earn N332.2bn

The local stock market maintained its upward momentum midweek, as the All-Share Index climbed 0.51 percent to close at 105,324.89 basis points.

On Wednesday, the bulls continued to dominate the domestic bourse as bargain hunting activities in First Bank of Nigeria Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, and Access Holdings spurred a 0.5 percent increase in the benchmark index as these banking stocks appreciated by 9.6 percent, 3.2 percent, and 6.3 percent, respectively.

Market capitalisation mirrored this growth, rising by 0.51 percent to ₦65.22 trillion, adding ₦332.2 billion in gains to the equities market by the session’s close. As a result, the All-Share Index closed at 105,324.89 points, with the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settling at +0.8 percent and +2.3 percent, respectively.

Buoyed by the market’s positive performance, market breadth remained strong, with 37 stocks advancing while 21 declined.

On the performance board, Guinea Insurance and Eternal recorded the most significant gains of the day, having appreciated in share value by 10.0 percent, respectively, while May & Baker and Academy Press topped the losers’ list after their respective share prices dipped by 9.9 percent and 9.3 percent.

Sectoral performance was mixed. The Banking sector recorded the highest gain at 3.17 percent, followed by Oil & Gas at 0.31 percent and Industrial Goods at 0.09 percent. Meanwhile, the Insurance and Consumer Goods sectors declined by 0.67 percent and 0.44 percent, respectively. The Commodity Index remained unchanged at 0 percent.