Stock Market Maintains Positive Momentum, Adds N244bn 

Kayode Tokede

The Nigerian stock market yesterday closed on a positive note, as renewed buying interest in financial institutions stocks, sustained gains from the previous trading activities.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index ((NGX ASI) rose by 383.71 basis points or 0.26 per cent, to close at 149,842.82 basis points  to  bring the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns at +4.4per cent and +45.6per cent, respectively.

Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value gained N244 billion to close at N95.525 trillion.

Market sentiment was bullish, with 38 advancing stocks outweighing 23 declining counters. Prestige Assurance, Veritas Kapital Assurance, First HoldCo and Lasaco Assurance recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N1.65, N1.76, N39.60 and N2.75 respectively, per share.

MeCure Industries followed with a gain of 9.92 per cent to close at N50.40, while Linkage Assurance rose by 9.70 per cent to close at N1.81, per share.

On the other hand, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N3.15, per share. International Energy Insurance followed with a decline of 9.92 per cent to close at N2.27, while McNichols declined by 6.90 per cent to close at N2.97, per share.

Omatek Ventures shed 6.84 per cent to close at N1.09, while Chams Holding Company lost 6.41 per cent to close at N2.92, per share.

The total volume of trade increased by 477.38 per cent to 5.925 billion units, valued at N216.194 billion, and exchanged in 25,205 deals. Transactions in the shares of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) topped the activity chart with 5.249 billion shares valued at N168.658 billion. First HoldCo followed with 108.145 million shares worth N4.214 billion, while Sterling Financial Holdings Company traded 87.311 million shares valued at N606.157 million.

FCMB Group traded 74.277 million shares valued at N783.564 million, while Access Holdings transacted 41.508 million shares worth N841.359 million.

On market outlook, Imperial Asset Managers Limited said, “at the equity market session today, Near-term sentiment is expected to remain cautiously optimistic, supported by robust year-to-date performance and sustained interest in fundamentally sound, liquid stocks. However, activity may stay range-bound in the short term, as investors remain selective while positioning ahead of year-end portfolio rebalancing.”