NGX maintains bullish trend with market capitalisation up N17 billion

By Cynthia Ezekwe 

Trading activities on the  Nigerian Exchange (NGX) platform maintained a bullish trend on Wednesday, despite pressures over fuel price scarcity emanating from hoarding on an expectation of price adjustment.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, after a market sensitive inaugural speech made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, equities investors saw more than N1.5 trillion capital gain, the highest daily increase since November 2020 due to increased positioning on growth stocks.

The All-Share Index (ASI) surged by 30.93 basis points, representing a rise of 0.06 per cent  to close at 55,769.28 as against 55,738.35 index points recorded in the previous day’s trading session.

The market capitalization of equities gained N17 billion to close at N30.367 trillion, a 0.05 per cent  gain compared to the N30.350 trillion recorded in the previous trading session.

However, market activities were mixed, as the total volume traded for the day dropped by 38.65 per cent, while the total value traded increased by 20.25 per cent.

ACCESSCORP was the most traded stock in terms of volume, accounting for 14.94 per cent  of the total volume of trades. The Nigerian largest lender was followed by UBA, which accounted for 13.65 per cent; ZENITHBANK recorded 6.74 per cent; GTCO stood at 5.99 per cent,and STERLINGNG recorded 5.17 per cent,  to complete the top 5 on the volume chart.

The  market report also  showed that GEREGU was the most traded stock in value terms, with 51.37 per cent  of the total value of trades on the exchange.

Despite the gain recorded, the market breadth closed negative, recording 29 gainers and 39 losers.

JAIZBANK and VERITASKAP topped the advancers’ chart with a price appreciation of 10.00 per cent each; CONOIL appreciated 9.96 per cent;  MRS gained 9.93 per cent;  NEIMETH advanced by 9.87 per cent; while  BERGER grew by 9.78 per cent.

Thirty-nine stocks depreciated, where NASCON topped the  losers chart, with a price depreciation of 9.79 per cent  to close at N15.20;  GLAXOSMITH lost 9.58 per cent;, CHIPLC declined by 8.77 per cent; , UCAP fell by 8.28 per cent; while  WEMABANK shed  8.05 per cent  of its market valuation.

NGX sector performance closed negative, as three out of the five major market sectors were down, led by the Insurance sector, which lost 2.52 per cent, followed by the Banking sector which shed 2.46 per cent, and the Industrial sector  with a decline of 0.19 per cent.

At the end of the trading activities on Wednesday,  the year-to-date return printed higher at 8.82 per cent .