At the conclusion of trading on Tuesday, the Nigerian stock market reached a 15-year high as investors’ interest in stocks remained high.
The All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) rose by 0.51percent to 66,490.34 points from 66,151.38 points the previous day, surpassing the highest value of 66,371.20 recorded on the Exchange on March 5, 2008.
A portion of this performance can be ascribed to a rise in banking stocks as a result of investors positioning themselves strategically to profit from the most recent record earnings reported by banks. As a result, market capitalization rose by 0.51 percent to N39.69 trillion at the closing on Tuesday from N36.21 trillion on Monday.
This meant that investors gained N510 billion in two trading sessions. Among the various sectoral indices, the NGX Banking Index experienced the most significant daily gain, rising by 1.63percent. Following closely were the NGX Consumer Goods Index, with a 0.99percent increase, and the NGX Industrial Index, which saw a 0.21percent uptick. Conversely, the NGX Oil/Gas Index dipped by 0.09percent, and the NGX Insurance Index recorded a substantial decline of 1.56percent, both attributable to investors reallocating their funds.
When compared to the previous session, yesterday’s market activity showed a significant rise in trade turnover, with transaction values rising by an amazing 79.18%.
Consequently, the total volume of stocks traded reached 436.95 million units, valued at N7.02 billion, across 7,933 deals. This marked a significant uptick from the 311.12 million units valued at N3.92 billion traded in 7,193 deals on Monday.
FBN Holdings topped the activity chart with 55.15 million units valued at N911.21 million. Following closely was Japaul Gold with the sale of 33.11 million units worth N29.92 million, while UBA transacted 30.17 million units valued at N41.21 million.
Market breadth closed positive, with 35 stocks appreciating in value while 32 stocks depreciated.
The highest price gainers were Champion Breweries and Flour Mills of Nigeria, both up 10 per cent to settle at N3.19 and N33.00 per share, respectively. Following closely after was NASCON Allied Industries, which increased by 9.96 per cent to close at N54.10, while Dangote Sugar Refinery and NAHCO both had their share prices rise by 9.95 per cent to close at N22.10 and N57.45, respectively.
On the other side, Linkage Assurance and Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) led others on the losers’ chart with 10 per cent each to close at 90 kobo and N4.05 respectively, while Chellaram followed with a decline of 9.85 per cent to close at N3.57, per share.
Prestige Assurance depreciated by 9.80 per cent to close at 46 kobo, while University Press shed 9.66 per cent to close at N2.15, per share.
In response to the market performance, market experts attributed this strong performance to a combination of factors, including investor sentiment influenced by macroeconomic developments such as the formation and swearing-in of the economic cabinet by President Bola Tinubu. Additionally, movements in yields within the fixed income market played a role in shaping market dynamics. They emphasized the importance of strategically positioning investments in fundamentally strong stocks, given the ongoing challenges posed by the weak macroeconomic environment on corporate earnings.
