Equities market rise by 0.15%

By Seun Ibiyemi

Nigeria’s equities market edged up on Tuesday, recording its first positive close of the week with a gain of 0.15 percent, equivalent to around N101 billion.

The rebound was largely driven by renewed investor interest in banking and oil & gas stocks, which helped steer the market in a more positive direction.

The NGX Banking Index led the way, rising by 1.89 percent, while the NGX Oil & Gas Index posted a marginal increase of 0.04 percent. However, most other major sector indices ended the day in negative territory, with the NGX Insurance Index taking the heaviest hit, dropping by 4.07 percent.

Among the top gainers, VFD Group saw a strong uptick, climbing from N62.70 to N66.00 — a gain of N3.30 or 5.26 percent. Abbey Mortgage Bank followed, rising from N5.15 to N5.58, an increase of 43 kobo or 8.35 percent. Sterling Financial Holdings Company also made gains, moving from N4.82 to N5.15, up by 33 kobo or 6.85 percent.

Commenting on the outlook for Thursday’s trading session, analysts at Lagos-based Vetiva Research noted that, given the continued bearish sentiment and sector-wide selloffs, the market could experience further downward pressure.

That said, they observed that a short-term recovery remains possible if bargain hunters begin to reposition themselves in fundamentally sound stocks currently trading below value.

As a result of Tuesday’s performance, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) rose from its previous level of 104,216.87 points to close at 104,376.73 points. Market capitalisation also improved, climbing from N65.488 trillion to N65.589 trillion.

Trading activity was relatively robust, with 460,565,077 shares worth N10.105 billion exchanged across 14,528 deals.

Despite recent dips this week and month — down by 1.08 percent and 1.22 percent respectively — the Nigerian stock market’s overall year-to-date return has inched up to +1.41 percent, reflecting a cautious but persistent investor appetite.