Equities market maintains bullish as investors earn N104.6bn

On Tuesday, the equities market extended its bullish momentum today, with the All-Share Index (ASI) rising by 0.18 percent to close at 98,568.59 basis points.

This upward trend at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) was also reflected in the market capitalization, which increased by the same 0.18 percent to N56.64 trillion, adding N104.6 billion to investors’ portfolios.

As a result, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns increased to +2.1 percent and +31.8 percent, respectively.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 35 tickers gained relative to 21 losers.

Topping the list of gainers were Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund, First Bank of Nigeria Holdings, Ellah Lakes, Fidelity Bank, and ABC Transport as their share prices appreciated by 9.94 percent,  9.93 percent, 9.76 percent, 9.70 percent, and 9.52 percent, respectively.

Conversely, the laggards included Oando, Okomu Oil Palm, Caverton Offshore Support Group, Multiverse Mining and Exploration, and Fidson Healthcare, as the share prices of these companies dipped by 10.00 percent, 9.98 percent, 9.88 percent, 9.82 percent, and 9.74 percent.

Sectoral performance for the day under review was largely positive, with the Banking, Insurance, and Industrial goods sectors posting gains of 3.01 percent, 2.16 percent, and 0.04 percent, respectively.

However, the Consumer goods and Oil/Gas sectors recorded losses of 0.28 percent and 0.11 percent.

Trading activity was mostly upbeat, with the number of deals and value increasing by 10.44 percent and 33.75 percent, respectively, reaching N11.09 billion across 11,783 deals.

However, trading volume declined by 9.73 percent, amounting to 731.55 million units. Fidelity Bank was the most traded stock, with 126 million units valued at N2.01 billion exchanged across 902 deals.