NGX Market Capitalisation Gain by N979.78 to Defy Bearish Prediction

Investors at the Nigerian Stock Exchange experienced a result that defied predictions from analysts that the market could experience a bearish turn all through this week's trading session following a move by equities holders to secure their portfolio following the upcoming dividend payment season.

At the close of Wednesday's trading session, the NGX market capitalisation gained N979.78 billion to close at N56.663 trillion from its opening quota of N55.653 trillion it closed the previous day. This was attributed to investors' renewed interest in Airtel Africa PLC and 27 others.

The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) gained 1,790.58 basis points or 1.76% to close at 103,498.28 basis points from 101,707.70 basis points it opened for trading.

In yesterday's trading session, performance was mixed, as the NGX Oil & Gas Index appreciated by 5.3%, NGX Consumer Goods gained 4%, and NGX Banking increased by 2%. The NGX Industrial Goods declined by 3.5%, and NGX Insurance dropped by 0.3%.

Meanwhile, the NGX Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns advanced to +2.3% and +38.4%, respectively.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 28 stocks gained while 25 equities lost. 

Top Gainers: Unity Bank and Airtel Africa led the chart with 10% each to close at N2.42 and N2,200, respectively, while Juli followed with a gain of 9.91% to close at N1.22 per share. FBN Holdings rose by 9.90% to close at N27.20, while Morison Industries followed with 9.82% to close at N3.02 per share.

Top Losers: NCR Nigeria, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria and MeCure Industries led others with 10% each to close at N4.32, N2.25 and N9.72 per share. Meyer followed with a decline of 9.99% to close at N6.22, while BUA Cement declined by 9.91% to close at N150.00 per share.

The total volume traded rose by 62.19 per cent to 426.861 million units, valued at N12.107 billion, and exchanged in 8,654 deals. Transactions in the shares of FBNH led the activity with 54.611 million shares worth N1.479 billion. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with 47.658 million shares valued at N1.173 billion, while Access Holdings traded 46.045 million shares valued at N1.092 billion.

Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) traded 30.646 million shares worth N394.903 million, while Nigerian Breweries traded 25.488 million shares worth N968.657 million.

Analysts at Cordros Research said, "We expect the weak sentiments that dominated the local bourse this week to persist in the week ahead as investors continue to scale down exposure to equities amidst expectations of a continued uptick in fixed income yields.”