Nigerian stocks sustained previous trades’ positive momentum Wednesday as benchmark index, the NSEASI, climbed 1.53 percent to close at 38,435.29 points while year-to-date losses moderated to 5.5 percent.
Consequently, market capitalization gained N586.45 billion in the three days of positive trade to settle at N13.922 trillion.
Wednesday’s performance was largely buoyed by a broad-based rally across sectors, with Nigerian Breweries (+4.94%), Oando (+9.7%) and Dangote Cement (+0.9%) being the main drivers.
Activity level was higher than previous session as volume traded in 5,285 deals inched 16 percent higher to 393 million units from 339 million units traded Tuesday, while the total value of sales grew by 12 percent to N6.674 billion from N5.964 billion worth of shares traded in 4,436 deals on Tuesday.
Investors concentrated their stakes on banking stocks, specifically in the shares of Zenith Bank Plc., Fidelity Bank Plc., United Bank for Africa Plc., Access Bank Plc. and Diamond Bank Plc., as they were the most active in terms of volume of shares traded.
Sector performance was completely bullish as all indices save one closed in the green. The industrial index appreciated the most, up 4.16 percent on the back of sustained interest in Dangote Cement (+0.9%) and WAPCO (9.35%). The consumer goods index trailed, rising 2.51 percent on account of upticks in Nigerian Breweries (+4.94%) and Flourmill (+5.78%). Similarly, the banking, insurance and oil & gas indices rose 1.15 percent, 0.99 percent and 0.63 percent respectively, as Fidelity (+9.9%), Diamond (+9.46%) and Zenith Bank (+3.51%) closed higher.
Market breadth strengthened as 41 stocks advanced against 16 that declined.
The day’s best-performing stocks were Fidelity (+9.9%), Oando (+9.7%) and Diamond (+9.46%) while the worst Guinea Insurance (-5.00%), Mutual Benefit (-5.00%) and NPF Microfinance (-4.73%) declined the most.
Following the three consecutive days of appreciation, investment analysts are predicting the possibility of profit taking at some point during the week.
“We do not rule out the possibility of some profit taking later in the week. Nevertheless, as investor sentiment waxes stronger, our near-term outlook on the market remains positive,” they posited.
