Investors’ interest in high cap stocks lifts ASI by 1.1 per cent

Bullish sentiments persisted in the Nigerian equities market, on Thursday, as investors’ interests in bellwethers led the All-Share Index (ASI) to close 1.1 per cent higher at 41,704.11 basis points.

Specifically, sentiments at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) was largely to interest in BUA Cement, MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa shares as they appreciated by 6.1 per cent, 1.2 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.

This bullish outing recorded for the day brought the month-to-date and year-to-date outings of the All-Share Index to stand at 3.69 per cent and 3.56 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, Investors gained N238 billion as the equities market capitalisation settled at N21.764 trillion.

Market Breadth closed in favour of the bulls, with 23 counters in the gainers’ chart pitted against 19 counters in the losers’ chart.

Cutix, NGX Group, CHI Plc, Nigerian Breweries and BUA Cement were the best-performing stocks in the session as they populate the top five gainers’ chart. From the rear of the chart TIP, Neimeth Pharmaceutical, Universal Insurance, NAHCO and Royal Exchange populated the top five losers’ charts.

Most sectoral indices closed in the same direction with the ASI aside from the NGX OIL&GAS and NGX GROWTH which lost 0.36 per cent and 0.59 per cent respectively, while NGX ASEM closed flat.

Meanwhile, activities at the local bourse were unimpressive as market activity as measured by both volume and value of trades shed weight in the session with daily traded volume standing at 216 million units, representing 56.72 per cent decrease from a volume of 491 million units traded in the previous session.

Value of traded stocks dipped by 33.43 per cent in the session to stand at N3.381 billion as against a value of N5.079 billion recorded in the previous trading session.

Market activity for the session was dominated by the financial sector, with FBN Holdings being the most traded stock, as it is flanked by ETI, Transcorp, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank.

With regards to the value of traded stocks, Airtel Africa, FBN Holdings, MTN Nigeria, NGX Group and Zenith Bank made up the top five performers.

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Investors’ interest in high cap stocks lifts ASI by 1.1 per cent