The bulls maintained dominance at the reopening of transactions yesterday on the equities sector of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX)as increased demand for Geregu Power Plc and 67 others lifted the All-Share Index (ASI) by 1.92 per cent.
At the close of transactions yesterday, the index gained 1,597.93 points, representing a gain of 1.92 per cent to close at 84,640.89 points. Also, market capitalisation rose by N875 billion to close at N46.317 trillion.
The upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are Geregu Power, Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar Refinery, NASCON Allied Industries and Flour Mills of Nigeria.
Analysts at United Capital Plc said: “Looking ahead, we expect positive sentiment to drive the market, as bargain hunting continues. “We expect the local bourse to record a positive performance this week. Investors are expected to continue to cherry-pick stocks with strong fundamentals, (value or growth) for dividend-scouting investors, ahead of the full-year, 2023 earnings season. At different intervals, we expect profit booking and mild sell-offs.”
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 68 stocks gained relative to eight losers. Chams Holding Company, DAAR Communications, AXA Mansard Insurance, PZ Cussons Nigeria, Sovereign Trust Insurance and Tantalizers emerged as the highest price gainer of 10 per cent each to close at N2.53 kobo, 99 kobo, N6.49 kobo, N32.45 kobo, 66 kobo and 55 kobo.
Cadbury Nigeria followed with a gain of 9.98 per cent to close at N26.45, while Jaiz Bank advanced by 9.93 per cent to close at N3.32 kobo.
On the other side, Abbey Mortgage Bank led others on the losers’ chart with 9.52 per cent to close at N2.47 kobo. Julius Berger followed with a decline of 3.54 per cent to close at N54.50 kobo, while Custodian Investment shed 3.45 per cent to close at N9.80 kobo.
Africa Prudential lost 2.78 per cent to close at N8.75, while FBN Holdings (FBNH) depreciated by 1.79 per cent to close at N27.50 kobo.
The total volume traded advanced by 34.4 per cent to 807.51 million units, valued at N11.03 billion, and exchanged in 13,647 deals. Transactions in the shares of Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) led the activity with 66.895 million shares worth N956.007 million, AIICO Insurance followed with an account of 62.293 million shares valued at N78.987 million.
Wema Bank traded 41.573 million shares valued at N387.926 million.
Jaiz Bank traded 39.194 million shares worth N128.016 million, while FCMB Group traded 38.150 million shares worth N423.122 million.
