The equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) during the week extended its bullish momentum following positive reactions to ongoing currency reforms by the new administration.
The uptrend recorded was spurred by positive investor sentiment following reports of the Central Bank of Nigeria allowing the Naira to float at the I&E Window freely. Tier-1 banking names saw afresh market repricing while a gain in MTN Nigeria support the momentum.
Consequently, the year-to-date gain of the Nigerian Exchange All-share index (NGX ASI) ballooned to 17.04% even as the Exchange printed more gainers (70) than losers (13).
Thus, the All-Share Index closed at 59,985.10 points.
Nigerian banks continued to rally with FBNH (+10.00%), STANBIC (+9.96%), FIDELITYBK (+9.85%), ACCESSCORP (9.79%), ETI (+9.75%), ZENITH BANK (+9.74%), UBA (+9.63%), and GTCO (9.42%), all closing higher today.
Gains were also broad-based, as investors also poured money into DANGSUGAR (+10.00%), SEPLAT (+10.00%), MTNN (+10.00%), OKOMUOIL (+9.95%), WAPIC (+9.80%), CUSTODN (+9.68%), TRANSCORP (+9.63%), LASACO (9.60%), AIICO (9.22%), WAPCO (+6.05%), and NB (+5.73%).
Investors also picked up shares in oil heavyweight, TOTAL (+9.99%), as the company announced the discovery of oil and gas in its Ntokon offshore OML 102.
Performance across sub-indices tracked was largely positive except for the NGX Industrial index, which fell by 1.13% amid sell-offs in the cement majors, BUACEMENT (-6.52%), and DANGCEM (-0.98%).
Meanwhile, market activity improved further, with total deals, volume, and value increasing by 15.22%, 9.28%, and 9.65%, respectively, to 11,947 trades, 1.30 billion units, and N21.08 billion.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was largely positive (5.4x), as 70 tickers gained relative to 13 losers. DANGSUGAR (+10.0%) and INTBREW (+10.0%) topped the gainers’ list, while PHARMDEKO (-9.7%) and CWG (-9.4%) recorded the highest losses of the day.
In terms of volume, UBA emerged as the most actively traded stock, with 230.76 million shares worth N2.74 billion changing hands in 638 deals.
By sectors, the Banking (+26.5%) and Insurance (+23.0%) indices recorded the most significant gains, followed by the Oil & Gas (+16.0%), and Consumer Goods (+4.1%) indices. The Industrial Goods (-1.1%) index was the sole loser of the day.
Overall, equities market capitalisation advanced by N991.8 billion to N32.7 trillion.
