Banking and Insurance Stocks Boost NGX by N403bn

The Nigerian stock market extended its bullish momentum on Thursday as the Nigerian Exchange Limited recorded a gain of N403bn, driven by renewed investor interest in insurance and banking stocks.

At the close of trading, the market capitalisation rose to N76.6 tn from N76.2 tn the previous day. The benchmark All-Share Index appreciated by 637.30 points, representing a 0.53 per cent increase, to close at 120,977.20 points. This performance marks a one-week gain of 0.17 per cent, a four-week gain of eight per cent, and a year-to-date return of 17.54 per cent.

The positive market sentiment was reflected in the performance of major sectoral indices. The Insurance Index led the pack, rising by 2.76 per cent. It was followed by the Banking Index, which climbed by 1.29 per cent. The Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 0.74 per cent, the NGX Pension Index rose by 0.75 per cent, and the Oil and Gas Index advanced by 0.69 per cent.

A total of 933.4 million shares valued at N29.3bn were exchanged in 24,207 deals. This represents an 11 per cent decline in volume but a 141 per cent increase in turnover compared to the previous trading day. The number of deals also improved by 10 per cent.

Market breadth closed positive with 54 gainers and 15 losers out of the 128 listed equities that participated in the day’s trading.

Berger Paints led the gainers’ chart with a 10 per cent gain to close at N33.00 per share. It was followed by Academy Press, Deap Capital Management & Trust, and Guinea Insurance, which all appreciated by 10 per cent. Unilever and FTN Cocoa also posted significant gains of 9.96 per cent and 9.95 per cent, respectively.

On the losers’ chart, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals recorded the highest loss, falling by 8.49 per cent to close at N7.22. Legend Internet shed 7.98 per cent, and CWG lost 4.5 per cent, while Sovereign Trust Insurance declined by 4.35 per cent.

In terms of volume, Universal Insurance emerged as the most traded stock with 67.3 million shares. It was followed by Access Holdings with 62.6 million shares, Chams with 59.7 million shares, and Japaul Gold with 49.5 million shares.

For value, Seplat led with N13.56bn worth of trades, followed by GTCO with N3.26bn, Nigerian Breweries with N1.81bn, Access Holdings with N1.46bn, and Zenith Bank with N819.7m.

Economic Confidential reported that the Nigerian Exchange staged a recovery on Wednesday, recording a market capitalisation gain of N378bn and reversing the losses that marked the beginning of the month. The renewed bullish sentiment reflected increased investor confidence in select tickers across sectors.