The Nigerian stock market posted its highest one-day gain in 2023 with a profit of Nigerian 851 billion as investors flocked to the recent rally.
The market rose 2.48 per cent on Monday as the all-stock index and stock market capitalization rose from 63,040.41 points and 34,326 billion naira to 64,603.69 points and 35,177 billion naira respectively.
The NGX ASI- the common value-based index that tracks all share prices at the exchange, which opened the trading year at 51,251.06 points (January 3, 2023) settled at 64,603.69 points at the close of trading on Monday (July 10, 2023). This represented a 26 per cent growth seen in just a few months.
Market performance was driven by continued demand for MTNN, Dangote Cement and Stanbic. The market saw indices of industrial goods (+5.13%), insurance (+4.18%), oil & gas (+2.61%) and banks (+1.73%) close in green, while the consumer goods index (-0.18) %) index fell.
The level of activity reflects the breadth of the market, with trade volume and value increasing by 49.80 per cent and 59.11 per cent respectively, reaching 1.84 billion units and 22.033 billion Naira in 14,584 transactions.
The Vice Chairman Of The Board at Highcap Securities Ltd, David Adonri, described the current bullish run at the market as dangerous given the inevitable dip that may follow anytime soon once investors started taking profits.
He said, “It is just a continuation of the rally which has transformed into a bull-run, driven by sentiments. There is no other sensitive information that we are aware of that is pushing the market. That is why the situation is becoming scary now.”
“Ultimately, if this is a sentiment-driven market, there will be a deep selloff as investors start taking profits. There will be panic.”
