The lead indicator of the Nigerian equities market, the All-share Index closed 0.30 percent higher to settle at 34,933.68 points on Tuesday as a result of sustained buying interest in banking stocks – ZENITH (+2.3%), GUARANTY (+1.5%) and UBA (+1.9%).
Market capitalization also increased by N36.1 billion to reach N12.8 trillion, while year-to-date losses improved to -8.7 percent.
Activity level improved as volume and value traded advanced 82.8 percent and 15.2 percent to 240.5 million units and N3.6 trillion respectively.
UBA (54.4m), ACCESS (38.5m) and STANBIC (35.2m) were the top traded stocks by volume while STANBIC (N1.7bn), GUARANTY (N0.6bn) and UBA (N0.4bn) led by value.
Performance across sectors was mixed as two out of five indices closed northwards, two southwards and one flat. The banking index rose, up 1.4 percent as investors took position in ZENITH (+2.3%), GUARANTY (+1.5%) and UBA (+1.9%).
The oil & gas index trailed, inching 0.3 percent higher following gains in JAPAULOIL (+8.3%).
On the flip side, the consumer goods and insurance indices declined 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent respectively due to sell-offs in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.1%), PZ (-10.0%), NEM (-4.1%) and LINKASSURE (-5.6%). The industrial goods index closed the day flat.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) improved to 1.3x from 0.9x recorded the previous day as 23 stocks advanced against 18 that declined.
The top performers were AIICO (+10.0%), JAIZ (+8.9%) and CILEASING (+8.8%) while UNIVINSURE (-10.0%), FIDSON (-10.0%) and PZ (-10.0%) led laggards.
Following the day’s performance which analysts at Afrinvest attribute to market sentiments today, they expect bargain hunting to be sustained in Wednesday’s trading session. “Nonetheless, we maintain a bearish outlook for the market in the near term,” Afrinvest said Tuesday.
