The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) equities segment opened the week on an impressive note as investors reacted positively to the new administration’s policy signals and planned financial sector reforms. The local bourse booms, recording sky-high gain due to unusual buying interest across major tickers after the suspension of Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank Governor.
The market experience solid rerating in the banking sector, supported by large gains from MTN Nigerian, Airtel Africa, and BUA Foods. The positive price movement pushed the All-share index upward by about 4% to 58,163.55 points. Driving the uptrend, AIRTELAF gained 7.9% followed by MTNN which popped higher by 3.6% while BUAFOODS surged by 4.5%.
“We believe the performance may not be unconnected to the news of the suspension of the former CBN governor over the weekend – a development market watchers believe could lead to improvement in the financial sector regulation and the end of aggressive capital controls”, Afrinvest said in a market note.
In their separate reports, stockbrokers said the total volume traded increased significantly by 106.4% to 1.19 billion units, valued at N19.23 billion, and exchanged in 10,269 deals. Shares of UBA were the most traded stock by volume at 214.94 million units, while GTCO was the most traded stock by value at N6.24 billion. As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (5.1x), as 61 tickers gained relative to 12 losers.
Data from the local exchange showed that all six indices booked gains.
The Banking, AFR-ICT, and Insurance gained the most up 8.8%, 5.5%, and 4.8%, sequentially spurred by price appreciation in Zenith (+10.0%), GTCO (+10.0%), AIRTEL (+7.9%), MTNN (+3.6%), MANSARD (+7.5%), and NEM (+5.8%) respectively.
ACCESSCORP (+10.0%) and NASCON (+10.0%) recorded the highest gains of the day, while ELLAHLAKES (-10.0%) and JOHNHOLT (-10.0%) topped the losers’ list.
The market records buying interest in BUAFOODS (+4.5%), DANGSUGA (+9.52%), DANGCEM (+1.3%), WAPCO (+8.9%) OANDO (+1.42%) and MRSOIL (+4.9%).
On sectoral performance, gains in the Banking (+8.8%), Insurance (+4.8%), Consumer Goods (+3.4%), Industrial Goods (+1.2%), and Oil & Gas (+0.2%) indices reflected the overall market performance.
As measured by market breadth, investor sentiment improved to 1.07x from 0.23x in the previous session as 60 stocks gained, 12 lost while 45 closed flat. Afrinvest anticipates a softer gain in the next trading session as investors reassess upside opportunities across different tickers.
Overall, data from the local bourse showed that year-to-date (YTD) return increased to 13.5% from 9.1% while market capitalisation inched up N30.5 billion to ₦31.7 trillion.
