Equities investors earn N368bn as market opens week bullish

At the beginning of the trading week, the local stock market closed on a positive note, with the All-Share Index rising by 0.56 per cent to 105,551.39 basis points.

This uptick also drove a 0.10 per cent increase in market capitalisation to N66.19 trillion, adding N368 billion to investors’ portfolios.

The positive sentiment at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Monday, driven by bargain hunting in banking names, including Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa as their respective share prices appreciated by 6.5 per cent, 5.0 per cent and 2.7 per cent.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 25 tickers gained relative to 21 losers.

On the performance board, Royal Exchange and Livestock led the gainers having appreciated in value by 10.0 per cent and 9.9 per cent, respectively, while NEM Insurance and United Capital posted the most significant losses of the day after their respective share prices dipped by 9.6 per cent and 9.3 per cent.

Sectoral performance was mixed: the Banking, Consumer Goods, and Oil & Gas sectors gained 3.78 per cent, 0.07 per cent and 0.39 per cent, respectively, while the Insurance and Industrial Goods sectors declined by 1.49 per cent and 0.01 per cent.

The Commodity Index remained unchanged. Market breadth stayed positive, as 25 stocks advanced while 22 declined.

On Monday, trading activity was strong, with the number of deals and trading volume rising by 31.83 per cent and 10.90 per cent, respectively, despite a 26.12 per cent drop in transaction value. In total, 440.52 million shares worth N10.47 billion were traded across 13,314 transactions.

Zenith Bank was the most traded stock by volume and value, at 55.06 million units and N2.61 billion, respectively.

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