Equities market sustains rally as investors earn N226.8bn

On Wednesday, trading activity at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) concluded on a positive note, marking three consecutive days of bullish rally on the Nigerian Equities market.

The All Share Index (ASI) experienced an upward trajectory of 40 basis points to close the session at 99,591.64 basis points, with a year-to-date return of 33.19 percent. 

Correspondingly, the market capitalization of listed equities witnessed a parallel upswing of N226.83 billion, reaching N56.31 trillion. 

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The top five advancers for the day included Transcorp Power, Transnational Corporation, First Bank of Nigeria Holdings, African Prudential and C&I Leasing with their share prices rising by 9.99 percent, 9.96 percent, 9.95 percent, 9.49 percent, and 9.48 percent, respectively. 

Despite the positive movement in the ASI, trading on the NGX experienced a lackluster trend, evident in the higher number of 30 losers compared to 18 gainers. The total deals and value dropped by 14.92 percent and 38.63 percent to 9,338 trades and N19.51 billion, respectively. 

However, the total traded volume experienced an uptick of 4.61 percent to 416.48 million units. Furthermore, Ikeja Hotel, Tantalized, Nas on Industries, EcoBaml Transnational Incorporated and Livestock and Allied Industries experienced adverse share price movements of -10.00 percent, -10.00 percent, -9.97 percent, -9.96 percent, and -9.82 percent, respectively. 

Performance across the sub-indices showcased sluggish activity, with the Insurance and Consumer Goods sectors posting losses of 0.15 percent and 0.83 percent, respectively, buoyed by sell pressure in Nascon, Dangote Sugar, Honeywell Flour, Universal Assurance, Linkage Insurance and Veritas Kapitas.

The Banking sector emerged as the sole gainer with a 0.24 percent increase driven by buy interest in Fidelity Bank and Sterling Financial Holding.

The Oil/Gas and Industrial Goods indices held steady from the previous session. 

Transcorp was the toast of investors on Wednesday, taking the spotlight as the most traded security in terms of volume with 67.34 million units transacted in 349 deals, while Transcorp Power led in traded value at N11.78 billion.