The benchmark index closed trading at 33,598.20 basis points, thus pushing YTD gain to 25 per cent.
Consequently, investors gained N157.8 billion as market capitalisation expanded to N11.6 trillion, as activity level improved as volume and value traded grew 85.0 per cent and 13.5 per cent to 759 million units and N6.3 billion respectively.
Performance across sectors was broadly bullish as all indices trended northward. The Banking index gained the most, advancing 2.9 per cent on the back of gains in Guaranty Bank’ stocks gain at five per cent and Zenith Banks’s at five pper cent.
Also appreciation in Mansard Insurance stocks at 3.3 per cent and Continental Insurance’s 2.7 per cent drove the Insurance index 1.5 per cent northwards.
Likewise, the Oil & Gas index appreciated 1.3 per cent due to upticks in Oando and Seplat stocks, while the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices advanced one per cent and 0.8 per cent on account of gains in Nigerian Breweries and Wapco respectively.
In line with expectation of market analysts, the market witnessed a rebound as investors continue to search for opportunities in favoured sectors.
Consequently, analysts at Afrinvestor believed the upbeat performance to persist in the near term as investors’ interest in the equities market remained largely driven by fundamental factors, which include improvements in the macroeconomic environment as well as administration of FX market policies.
and then