Bargain hunting, predicted at the beginning of the week by analysts at Afrinvest Research, continued on Wednesday in equities trading at theNigerian Stock Exchange. The market maintained its bullish rhythm on and gave investors a higher boost as they gained N18.2 billion at the close of the session.
The trading session was bullish on the back of buying interest in Guaranty Trust Bank (GUARANTY) at +2.1 percent; Zenith Bank (ZENITH) at +0.9 percent, and International Breweries (INTBREW) at +7.1 percent. As a result of these performances the All-Share Index advanced 14 basis points to close at 25,171.32 points. Also, investors gained ₦18.2 billion with market capitalisation rising to ₦13.1 trillion while the year to date loss improved to -6.2 per cent.
Activity level on the trading floor waned as volume and value traded fell 33.6 per cent and 37.6 per cent respectively to 180.0 million units and ₦1.5 billion.
The top traded stocks by volume were Zenith Bank (ZENITH) with 35.9 million units); Access Bank (ACCESS) with 29.1 million units; and Transcorp Plc (TRANSCORP) with 16.5 million units. In terms of value, the leaders were ZENITH with ₦605.2 million; GUARANTY ₦201.3 million; and ACCESS with ₦187.4 million.
In the same vein, performance across all sectors was bullish but AFR-ICT and Oil & Gas indices were unchanged. The Industrial Goods index was the lone loser as it dropped four basis points on account of sell-offs in CAP at -10.0 percent.
Conversely, the banking index recorded the strongest gain, advancing 0.8 per cent due to buying interest in GUARANTY at +2.1 percent, ZENITH at +0.9 percent and United Bank for Africa (UBA) at +0.8 percent.
In the same vein, price appreciation in AIICO at +2.2 percent, and INTBREW at +7.1 percent, lifted the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices by 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.
On the other hand, investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), shrank to 1.0x from the 1.2x recorded previously as 13 stocks gained relative to the 13 that declined.
The top gainers were STUDPRESS at +10.0 percent, INTBREW at +7.1 percent and JAIZBANK at +5.4 percent, while CAP at -10.0 percent, ROYALEX at -9.7 percent, and PZ at -9.4 percent topped the laggards.
