Equities market begins week on positive note as investors earn N53.9bn

Nigerian equities opened the week on a positive note, extending gains from the previous session as the All-Share Index closed 0.21 per cent stronger to close at 48,253.59 basis points.

At the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Monday, the market’s performance was primarily driven by gains in industrial heavyweight BUA Cement and Nigerian Breweries, having appreciated in share values by 3.90 per cent and 2.22 per cent.

Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns increased to 1.3 per cent and 13.0 per cent, respectively.
Equities investors, therefore, gained N53.89 billion as the market capitalisation appreciated to N26.28 trillion by the end of trading activities on Monday.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive as 17 tickers gained relative to 16 losers. On the performance board, Guinness and Eternal Oil topped the gainers’ list after their respective share prices went up by 10.0 per cent and 8.8 per cent, while Geregu and SCOA recorded the most significant losses of the day after depreciating in share value by 9.9 per cent and 9.4 per cent, respectively.

On sectoral performance, the Industrial Goods, Insurance, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices appreciated by 1.7 per cent, 1.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively; while the Banking index was the sole loser of the day, having depreciated by 1.3 per cent.

Notably, Presco and BUA Cement, having appreciated by 6.64 per cent and 3.90 per cent contributed to increasing in the NGX Consumer Goods Index and the NGX Industrial Index, respectively.

Similarly, gains in the NGX Oil/Gas Index and the NGX Insurance Index were both advanced and were supported by gains in the share prices of Eterna Oil, Royal Exchange, Mansard Insurance and Oando.

On the flip side, the dip in the NGX Banking sub-sector was attributable to losses in Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, Access Corporation and United Bank for Africa, which declined by 2.23 per cent, 1.72 per cent, and 0.68 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, activity in the market was upbeat as total deals and volume increased by 13.18 per cent and 303.56 per cent, respectively, to 3,486 trades and N4.19 billion.

In terms of volume. UPDCreit was the most active stock, with 460.71 million shares worth N1.61 billion changing hands in 31 deals.

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Equities market begins week on positive note as investors earn N53.9bn