Week opens positive, investors gain N79.6bn on renewed buying interest

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) began the week in positive territory as renewed investor interest lifted the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) by 0.09 per cent to close at 145,880.77 points on Monday, pushing the year-to-date (YtD) gain to 41.73 per cent.

The market capitalisation rose by N79.6 billion to N92.29 trillion. The upbeat performance was largely supported by buying interest in bellwether stocks such as MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Access Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, and AIICO Insurance Plc. Market breadth remained positive at 1.18x, with 40 gainers against 34 losers, reflecting a sustained battle between bargain hunters and profit-takers.

AIICO Insurance Plc, Sunu Assurances Nigeria Plc, and Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc led the gainers’ chart with 10.00 per cent each, while Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc, ABC Transport Plc, and UAC of Nigeria Plc topped the laggards, shedding 10.00 per cent, 9.99 per cent, and 9.92 per cent respectively.

Across sectoral indices, performance was mixed. The NGX Insurance Index recorded the biggest gain of the day, advancing 9.74 per cent on sustained interest in insurance counters, while the NGX Banking Index rose 0.44 per cent. The NGX Consumer Goods Index also edged higher by 0.98 per cent. Conversely, the NGX Industrial Goods and NGX Oil/Gas indices declined by 1.47 per cent and 0.56 per cent respectively.

Trading activity moderated as total volume dipped by 4.52 per cent to 2.12 billion units, while value of transactions fell sharply by 40.17 per cent to N19.4 billion. Linkage Assurance Plc was the most traded stock by volume with 703.59 million units lf shares, followed by Universal Insurance Plc (230.54 million units) and AIICO Insurance Plc (154.73 million units).

When measured by value, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc led with N1.73 billion worth of shares traded, ahead of Zenith Bank Plc (N1.58 billion) and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (N1.19 billion).

Market watchers noted that the day’s modest gain reflected continued investor positioning in undervalued stocks ahead of further corporate earnings releases, despite the mixed performance across key sectors.