NGX opens positive as market cap increases by N10bn

The Nigerian stock market started the week on a positive note, recording a gain of N10 billion or 0.02 per cent, boosting investor portfolios.

The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market capitalisation increased from N62.851 trillion at the opening to N62.861 trillion at the close of trading on Monday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 0.02 percent or 17 points, closing at 102,370.36 compared to 102,353.68 recorded on Friday.

This performance raised the Year-To-Date (YTD) return to 0.54 percent.

Market activity was driven by demand for equities such as Oando Plc, Transnational Corporation, Zenith Bank, and Fidelity Bank, among others.

The market breadth also remained positive, with 32 gainers surpassing 26 losers at the close of trading.

On the gainers’ chart, Caverton led by 10 percent to close at N2.42, Wapic followed by 9.91 percent to close at N2.44 per share.

SCOA Nigeria Plc gained 9.68 percent to close at N2.72, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust added 9.52 percent to close at N1.84 and Universal Insurance went up by 9.52 percent to close at 69k per share.

Conversely, Eunisell Ltd., led the losers chart by 9.99 percent to close at N14.06, JohnHolt trailed by 9.63 percent to close at N9.20 per share.

Secure Electronic Technology Plc declined by 8.99 percent to close at 8k, Honeywell Flour lost 7.58 percent to close at N9.15, while PZ decreased by six percent to close at N23.50 per share.

On the breakdown of activities, trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 49.62 percent.

A total of 1.33 billion shares valued at N17.67 billion were exchanged in 13,891 deals,compared to 327.84 million shares valued at N11.81 billion across 11,905 deals posted in the previous session.

Meanwhile, Wema Bank led the activity chart in volume and value with 980.04 million shares valued in deals worth N9.80 billion.

Ahead of the week, analysts at Cowry Asset Management Ltd., anticipated that the market might experience a mixed performance in the ongoing week.

They said while some degree of bargain hunting was expected as investors search for attractive entry points, much of the direction would be shaped by the anticipated earnings as well as reports and the broader macroeconomic outlook

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