Stock Market Opens Big in H2 as Investors Gain N533bn
Stock investors consolidated the bullish sentiments recorded in the first half of the year as they raked in N533bn on the first trading day of the second half of the year.
The All-Share Index went up 1.61 per cent to close at 61,949.24 index points on Monday against 60,968.27 index points recorded on Friday.
The market capitalisation rose by N53bn to close at N33.731tn, representing a 1.43 increase compared to the N33.198tn recorded in the previous trading session.
On the gainers’ list, JAPAULGOLD, ETERNA, and MEYER led the line, gaining 10.00 per cent each. UPL and LINKASSURE also appreciated at the same rate.
TRIPPLEG, CORNEST, and NSLTECH led the laggards list, losing 9.87 per cent, 9.09 per cent, and 9.09 per cent, respectively. ABCTRANS was down 6.8 per cent while JBERGER declined by 3.2 per cent.
Investors exchanged 1.20 billion units of shares compared to the 998.08 million traded in the previous day’s session.
By volume, FCMB led the line with 173.81 million units traded. UBA followed with 160.67 million shares while ACCESS HOLDINGS’s 132.52 million shares completed the top 3 traded stocks.
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Value-wise, ACCESS HOLDINGS (N2.38bn) led the chart, followed by UBA (N2.12bn) and FCMB (N930.70m).
In the first six months of this year, investors have gained N5.3tn, propelled by macroeconomic reforms of the new administration.
This came despite the rising inflation, global uncertainty and other economic challenges, which negatively impacted the market during the early part of the year.
The market rallied amid buying interest from investors, especially in bellwether stocks.
The NGX All Share Index, an indicator which is used to measure the performance of listed firms on NGX, hit a 15-year high for the first time since 2008 and crossed 60,000 index points, to close at 60,968.27 points as against an opening value of 51,251.06 (January 3, 2023), implying an increase of 8,717.21 or 18.96 per cent.
Prior to this time, the cash crunch; soaring inflation and the uncertainties in the build-up to the 2023 elections dampened the mood of investors as they activated the “cautious mood” to stock trading. But sentiments started improving as the cash crunch eased and impressive corporate results came in.
