Investor optimism fuels N120bn growth in NGX’s equities market cap

Onome Amuge

Nigeria’s stock market ended Tuesday’s trading session on a positive note, as investors piled into growth and value stocks on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), resulting in a market capitalisation growth of N120 billion.

Amidst a relatively mixed sectoral performance, the Nigerian Exchange’s equities market capitalisation experienced a growth of N119.95 billion to close at N59.92 trillion on the second trading day of the week.

Stockbrokers commented on the market’s performance, noting that key performance indicators improved by 20 basis points or 0.20 percent, driven by the investors’ enthusiasm for stocks with strong earnings potential, amid a flurry of company earnings releases.

The buying momentum and investor optimism in Nigeria’s stock market persisted, resulting in a year-to-date increase of 197.78 basis points in the All-Share Index, which closed at 98,694.80.

Continuing its positive streak, the local market was primarily driven by bargain hunting in medium and large Cap stocks such as UACN, GTCO, OANDO, and other stocks that presented attractive investment opportunities, with investors capitalising on the earnings releases and the potential for future growth.

While market activities were somewhat mixed, volume traded increased by 45.92 percent, with approximately 591.01 million units worth N24,844.81 million changing hands across 6,987 deals.

Though market activities were quite varied, CHAMPION emerged as the most traded stock in terms of volume, constituting 43.20 percent of the total volume of trade in the equity market.

Other volume drivers included JAPAULGOLD, which contributed 18.42 percent, UBA with 7.61 percent, FCMB accounting for 3.24 percent, and CILEASING with 2.86 percent.

SEPLAT, with 78.41 percent of the total value of trades executed on the exchange, emerged as the most traded stock by value.

The advancers’ chart for Tuesday was dominated by TRANSCOHOT, which led the list with a 9.28 percent price appreciation, trailed closely by WAPIC, which rose 9.09 percent. The third position on the list was occupied by UPDC, which gained 6.90 percent.

UNIVINSURE, ABCTRANS, UACN, and seventeen other stocks also experienced price gains on Tuesday, with UNIVINSURE occupying the top position among the gainers with a 5.88 percent price appreciation,followed by ABCTRANS at 4.65 percent and UACN with a 3.96 percent increase in stock price.

Despite the favourable sentiment, fifteen stocks declined on the Nigerian Exchange, with JOHNHOLT leading the decliners’ chart, recording a notable price depreciation of 9.84 percent.

Besides JOHNHOLT, other stocks that suffered price declines on Tuesday included TANTALIZER, which saw its stock price drop by 9.84 percent, DANGSUGAR with a -8.82 percent price change, REGALINS posting a -7.14 percent decrease in price, HONYFLOUR depreciating by 5.81 percent, and SEPLAT seeing a 0.67 percent decline in its stock price.

The market breadth on Tuesday closed in a positive territory, with 23 gainers against 15 decliners, indicating a generally optimistic sentiment across the market.

Nevertheless, sectoral performance displayed a varied picture, with two out of the five major sectors recording losses during Tuesday’s trading session.

The Consumer goods and Oil & Gas sectors were the laggards, with the Consumer goods sector posting a 0.70 percent decline and the Oil & Gas sector experiencing a 0.62 percent drop in value.

Conversely, the Insurance and Banking sectors led the gainers with a 1.22 percent and 0.91 percent increase in value, respectively. However, the Industrial sector remained largely unchanged, recording no significant variation in value.