Equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) opened the week with a moderate rebound, as the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 0.26 percent to close at 112,029.35 basis points, driven by renewed interest in select large-cap stocks.
The bullish note was largely as a result of rally in MTN Nigeria Communication, First Holdings Company and Oando, having appreciated in share value by 3.2 percent, 2.0 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.
This upward movement added approximately N181 billion to the market capitalization, which now stands at N70.64 trillion.
Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at +0.3 percent and +8.8 percent, respectively.
However, beneath the surface, the market showed signs of fragility. Market breadth was negative, with 33 decliners outweighing 23 gainers, indicating that the bullish sentiment was narrow and not broadly supported across sectors.
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On the performance board, Legend Internet Service and NSL TECH recorded the most significant losses of the day having dipped by 9.9 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively, while Multiverse and Livestock led the gainers after their respective share prices appreciated by 9.9 percent and 9.6 percent.
Across sectors, the performance was broadly positive, with the Banking, Insurance, Oil & Gas, Industrial Goods and Commodities sectors all posting modest gains by 0.20 percent, 0.85 percent, 0.22 percent, 0.43 percent a d 0.05 percent.
However, the Consumer Goods sector declined by 0.58 percent.
Despite the index gain, market activity was significantly muted, as volume, value, and number of deals dropped by 73.12 percent, 84.52 percent, and 9.79 percent, respectively.
In total, 511.02 million shares valued at N9.93 billion were exchanged in 16,827 deals.
Fidelity Bank was the most traded stock by volume and value at 98.82 million units and N1.88 billion, respectively.
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