The Nigerian Equity Market started the trading week positively, buoyed by renewed interest in equities and the influence of FUGAZ banks. The NGXASI benchmark index gained 21 basis points, concluding at 65,336.71 points versus the previous session’s 65,198.08 points.
Investors’ focus on prominent stocks like Eterna Oil (+2.61%), Access Corporation (+1.17%), MTN Nigeria (+1.08%), Guaranty Trust Holding Company (+1.65%), Cadbury Nigeria (+4.66%), and Zenith Bank (+0.29%) contributed to this performance, elevating the Year to Date return to 27.48%. The market capitalization increased by 0.21% to N35.56 trillion, enhancing investors’ wealth by N75.44 billion.
However, three out of five indices posted negative performance. The Insurance sector led with a 1.16% loss, followed by slight declines in the Consumer Goods (-0.05%) and Industrial (-0.01%) indices. Conversely, the Banking and Oil/Gas indices rose by 0.81% and 0.12% respectively, bolstering the positive sentiment.
Market activity on the day showed a decline, with both trading volume and value decreasing by 7.93% and 35.92% to settle at 334.33 million units and N3.89 billion, respectively.
The Market Breadth, which measures investor sentiment through the Gainers/Losers ratio, stood at 1.00x. As 25 stocks appreciated, 25 stocks depreciated and 63 stocks closed flat.
We expect bulls to sustain dominance in the coming session, driven by buying interest and disclosure of earnings reports.
Currency Market
The Nigerian Naira depreciated by 4.27% against the US Dollar in the I&E Window, closing at a rate of N774.78/USD.
