Nigerian Stocks Begin Week Bullish, Close 0.14% Higher

By Dipo Olowookere

The first trading session of the new week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a positive note on Monday, with a 0.14 per cent rise.

The bullish outcome yesterday was driven by renewed appetite for Nigerian stocks by investors, especially those on the retail end.

During the session, the banking segment gained 0.68 per cent, the industrial goods counter expanded by 0.47 per cent, the insurance index appreciated by 0.33 per cent, and the consumer goods sector grew by 0.32 per cent, while the energy space shrank by 0.40 per cent.

When trading activities ended for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) chalked up 352.24 points to settle at 250,156.80 points compared with the previous session’s 249,804.56 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N228 billion to N162.385 trillion from N162.157 trillion.

Yesterday, Omatek, Thomas Wyatt, NASCON, and SUNU Assurances topped the gainers’ chart after adding 10.00 per cent each to trade at N1.32, N2.53, N176.00, and N3.08, respectively, while CMFC improved by 9.80 per cent to N2.24.

On the other side of the coin, Okomu Oil shed 10.00 per cent to close at N1,276.20, Custodian Investment depleted by 9.13 per cent to N68.15, Sovereign Trust Insurance crashed by 8.64 per cent to N2.01, Haldane McCall lost 8.33 per cent to finish at N3.30, and Ellak Lakes sank by 5.39 per cent to quote at N7.90.

A total of 39 shares ended on the advancers’ log, while 25 shares were on the laggards’ group, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

The activity level was mixed in the trading day after investors traded 574.2 million stocks worth N38.1 billion in 68,655 deals versus the 526.0 million stocks valued at N96.9 billion transacted in 44,293 deals last Friday.

This showed that the trading volume went up by 9.16 per cent and the number of deals increased by 55.00 per cent, while the trading value decreased by 60.68 per cent.

Zenith Bank was the busiest equity on Monday, with a turnover of 77.1 million units valued at N9.9 billion. Mutual Benefits traded 53.6 million units worth N205.6 million, Sterling Holdings sold 44.2 million units for N339.3 million, GTCO exchanged 25.9 million units worth N3.4 billion, and AIICO Insurance transacted 24.4 million units valued at N91.9 million.