NGX Bearish Run Ends as Thursday Session Delivers N74 Billion Gain

Yesterday, the Nigerian stock market halted its three-day straight bearish run as investors engaged in profit-taking activities. Yesterday's gains were attributed to the gains in BUA Cement Plc and 21 other stocks, which increased market capitalisation by N74 billion to close at N59.022 trillion.

The NGX All-Share Index gained 130.66 basis points, or 0.13%, to close at 104,387.47 basis points. The month-till-date (MtD) and year-till-date (YtD) gains increased to +4.4% and +39.6%, respectively.

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Analysing by sector, the NGX Banking index added 0.9%, NGX Insurance appreciated by 0.6%, NGX Industrial Goods rose by 0.4%, and the NGX Oil & Gas index closed flat. The NGX Consumer Goods index dipped by 0.1%; yesterday was the sole loser.

As measured by market breadth, investor sentiment closed negative as 23 stocks advanced and 30 declined. 

Top Gainers: Juli emerged as the leader with a 10% gain to close at N7.15 per share. Transcorp followed it with a 9.96% gain to close at N14.90, while International Energy Insurance increased by 9.66% to close at N1.59 per share. eTranzact International increased by 9.65% to close at N6.25, while Guinea Insurance rose by 8.33% to close at 39 kobo per share. 

Top Losers: Deap Capital Management and Trust led the chart with a 10% decline to close at 63 kobo per share. Tourist Company of Nigeria followed with a 9.86% decline to close at N2.56, while CWG shed 9.09% to close at N5.50 per share. Caverton Offshore Support Group followed with 8.57% to close at N1.60, while Omatek Ventures depreciated by 8.05% to close at 80 kobo per share.

The total volume traded rose by 12.8% to 336.816 million units, valued at N9.285 billion, and exchanged in 8,790 deals. Transactions in United Bank for Africa (UBA) shares led the activity with 63.882 million shares worth N1.722 billion. Access Holdings followed with 32.02 million shares valued at N750.038 million, while Zenith Bank traded 21.772 million shares valued at N846.995 million.

Transcorp traded 20.619 million shares worth N300.491 million, while GTCO traded 19.038 million shares worth N894.623 million.

How Did Stocks Trade on Wednesday?
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) investors finished the mid-week trading session in a red zone, leading to a three-day consecutive bearish run. Market capitalisation was down by N168 billion, as investors' profit-taking activities affected big stocks.

Due to profit-taking activities, market capitalisation closed at N58.948 trillion, down from N59.416 trillion, where it opened for the day. The decline was said to be 0.8% or N168 billion.

The NGX All-Share Index declined to 104,256.81 basis points yesterday from 105,085.25 basis points the stock market opened for this week, representing a decline of 828.44 basis points or 0.8%.