Equities Market Rebounds as ASI Adds 0.31%, Investors Gain N279bn
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed positively on Thursday, reversing losses from the previous session as the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced 0.31 per cent to settle at 141,149.04 points.
The rally lifted year-to-date returns to 37.14 per cent from 36.72 per cent previously, while market capitalisation added N279.37 billion to close at N89.34 trillion.
The upturn was powered by renewed bargain hunting in bellwethers, notably GTCO (+1.98%), Oando (+9.50%), Stanbic IBTC (+3.09%) and Dangote Sugar (+4.38%), which more than offset profit-taking in some banking counters such as FCMB (-3.29%), Sterling Bank (-2.01%), Wema Bank (-1.58%) and Fidelity Bank (-0.49%).
Sectoral performance was largely positive, with the Banking Index climbing 1.02 per cent, Oil & Gas up 0.74 per cent, and Consumer Goods advancing 0.31 per cent. The Industrial Goods Index closed flat, while the Insurance Index slipped 0.41 per cent as the lone laggard.
Investor activity spiked sharply, with traded volume soaring 1,137.15 per cent and value rising by 2,373.24 per cent. Unity Bank dominated the volume chart with 4.00 billion units exchanged, while Aradel Holdings led the value chart with N388.20 billion worth of transactions.
Market breadth closed strong at 1.50x, reflecting thirty-two gainers against twenty-two losers. Mecure Industries (+9.89%) topped the advancers, while Eterna (-10.00%) led the laggards.
At the NASD OTC market, sentiment remained weak as the Securities Index and market capitalisation fell by 0.20 per cent to 3,548.11 points and N2.12 trillion, respectively. Activity slumped sharply with traded volume and value down 96.32 per cent and 98.73 per cent. FrieslandCampina WAMCO (-3.68%) dragged the market lower, with no advancers recorded in the session.
