Interest in Stanbic IBTC, others buoy equities market performance

At the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), equities trading started the week in a bullish tone, as the NGX All Share Index (ASI) advanced by 0.31 percent, to close at 141,439.77 basis points.

Buying interest in Stanbic IBTC Financial Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, and Julius Berger drove the ASI as these blue chips stocks appreciated by higher by 5.3 percent, 2.2 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively.

Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at +1.1 percent and +37.4 percent, respectively.

Total market capitalisation also appreciated by N284.44 billion, reaching N89.49 trillion.

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Market sentiment was buoyant, evidenced by a positive breadth with 39 stocks advancing compared to 17 declining.

Leading performers included Julius Berger, Cutix, Regal Insurance, Veritas Capital, and McNicholas, while LASACO Insurance, Cadbury Nigeria, Abbey Mortgage Bank, Daar Communication, and Austin and Laz were among the notable underperformers.

Sectoral performance was predominantly positive, with gains in Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods, and Industrial sectors.

However, the Oil & Gas and Commodity sectors recorded declines.

Trading activity presented a mixed picture: the number of deals rose significantly by 28.65 percent to 33,342, while trading volume and value contracted by 54.63 percent to 591.25 million units and 75.63 percent to N11.66 billion, respectively.

FCMB Group dominated the trading volume with 105.13 million units of stocks exchanged, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company led the value log with deals worth N2.40 billion.