Nigerian Exchange Closes Positive as Investors Gain N26bn

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalisation increased by N26 billion on Tuesday, as investors saw a rise in their portfolio values. This marked the second consecutive day of positive trading, with the All-Share Index rising by 0.04% to 105,593.28 points.

The modest gain on Tuesday boosted market capitalisation by 0.04%, reaching N66.21 trillion, adding N26.27 billion to investors' portfolios. As a result, the year-to-date return increased to 2.59%, while the month-to-date loss moderated to -2.07%.

Trade performance showed mixed results, as total volume dropped by 20.70% to 349.33 million units, while trade value surged by 43.98% to N15.1 billion.

ACCESSCORP led in volume with 36.60 million units traded, accounting for 10.48% of the total volume. GEREGU, on the other hand, recorded the highest trade value at N8.2 billion, representing 54.53% of the total value traded.

The market breadth mirrored the overall positive sentiment, with 29 gainers and 21 losers, yielding a market breadth ratio of 1.38x. MAYBAKER (+10.00%) topped the gainers, while ETERNA (-9.21%) led the losers.

Among the gainers were STERLINGNG (+4.90%), FCMB (+4.74%), FIDELITYBK (+4.38%), ZENITHBANK (+3.24%), WEMABANK (+3.23%), UCAP (+2.11%), GTCO (+1.37%), FIRSTHOLDCO (+1.23%), and INTBREW (+0.58%).

Despite the positive close, trading activity was subdued, with the number of deals and trading volume falling by 6.49% and 20.70%, respectively. However, transaction value surged by 43.98%, bringing the total turnover to 349.33 million shares worth N15.08 billion across 12,450 transactions.

Sector performance was mixed, with three out of the six indices posting gains. The Insurance index (+1.99%) led the gainers, driven by price increases in MANSARD (+4.65%) and CONHALLPLC (+8.79%).

The Banking (+1.33%) and Industrial Goods (+0.01%) indices followed closely, buoyed by buy interest in ZENITHBANK (+3.24%) and CUTIX (+5.22%), respectively.

On the downside, the Oil & Gas (-1.69%) and Commodity (-0.59%) indices closed lower, pressured by sell-offs in ARADEL (-3.26%), while DANGSUGAR (-2.78%) dragged the Consumer Goods (-0.10%) index lower.