Local stock market opens week positive as ASI adds 0.7%

Trading in the Nigerian equities market kicked off the week on a bullish note, underpinned by demand for Zenith Bank and Dangote Sugar, as these companies enjoyed investors’ rally, leaving the share prices with a 6.5 percent and 10.0 percent respective increase.

Subsequently, the All-share Index (ASI) notched higher by 0.7 percent, closing at 102,044.84 basis points. Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns advanced to +2.1 percent and +36.5 percent, respectively.

Equities investors, therefore, gained N403.69 billion as the market capitalization closed at N57.70 trillion by the end of trading activities at the local bourse on Monday.

Measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, with 34 tickers gaining relative to 16 losers. On the performance board, Honeywell Flour Mills and NEM Insurance topped the gainers’ list after their respective share prices appreciated by 10.0 percent, while Prestige Insurance and LASACO Assurance recorded the highest losses as their shares dipped by 10.0 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively.

Performance across the sectors was mostly positive, with gains in the Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods, and Industrial Goods indices by 2.0 percent, 1.4 percent, and 1.1 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the Oil & Gas index was the sole loser of the day, with a 0.2 percent dip.

An analysis of today’s market activities showed trade turnover settling lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 13.98 percent. A total of 436.90 million shares valued at N17.09 billion were exchanged in 11,344 deals. Guaranty Trust Holding Company led the volume chart with 96.63 million units traded, while Transcorp Power led the value chart with deals worth N5.93 billion.