The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) opened the holiday- shortened week to extend gains from last week as the All-Share Index crossed the 50,000 basis points psychological mark, the highest point since August 06, 2008.
Precisely, the NGX All-Share Index rose by 487.47 basis points or 0.98 per cent to close at 50,126.41 basis points, from 49,638.94 basis points last week to hit over 13-year historical high.
According to the NGX statistics, investors’ buy interests in BUA Cement which appreciated by 8.16 per cent, alongside consumer goods, Okomu Oil that also gained 10 per cent and Nigerian Breweries that rose by 9.98 per cent, were the major drivers of the stock market yesterday.
Consequently, the stock market in its year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 17.35 per cent, while market capitalisation gained N263 billion to close at N27.02 trillion from N26.761 trillion the market closed before the two-day holiday.
Commenting on the bullish market performance, the Vice President, Highcap securities Limited, Mr. David Adnori attributed the psychological growth to impressive corporate earnings for first quarter ended March 31, 2022 and hike in global oil price.
He added that foreign investors have renewed their interest in stocks on the bourse with strong fundamentals.
Speaking also, analyst at PAC Holdings, Mr. Wole Adeyeye, said: “There are some foreign investors’ interest in some multinational companies like Guinness Nigeria Plc that has hits N100 per share. So, some investors that could not buy Guinness Nigeria are moving to Nigerian Breweries, among other stocks on the NGX.”
He added that: “Foreign and local investors are taking advantage of undervalued stocks and the first quarter corporate earnings are fundamentals driving investors buy interest on the NGX.”
However, the market sentiment, as measured by market breadth closed positive as 31 stocks gained, relative to 27 losers. Okomu Oil and Wema Bank recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N161.70 and N3.85 respectively, per share.
Nigerian Breweries followed with a gain 9.98 per cent to close at N62.80, while Eterna and Presco appreciated by 9.97 per cent each to close at N6.62 and N157.70 respectively, per share.
On the other hand, Oando led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N5.67, per share. Trans-Nationwide Express followed with a decline of 9.88 per cent to close at 73 kobo, while AXA Mansard Insurance depreciated by 7.79 per cent to close at N2.25, per share.
Ikeja Hotel declined by 7.14 per cent to close at N1.30, while Cutix depreciated by 6.15 per cent to close at N2.29, per share.
However, the total volume of trades decreased by 89.55 per cent to 669.299 million units, valued at N5.989 billion, and exchanged in 7,251 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Union Bank of Nigeria (UBA) topped the activity chart with 263.647 million shares valued at N166.099 million.
Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) followed with 74.058 million shares worth N86.724 million, while AIICO Insurance traded 31.031 million shares valued at N24.721 million.
Chams traded 28.926 million shares valued at N66.531 million, while Access Holdings transacted 23.805 million shares worth N229.513 million.
According to analysts InvestmentOne Research, “The equities market closed on a bullish note today due to the gains recorded in the Consumer Goods and Industrial sectors.
“Going forward, we expect investor’s sentiments to be swayed by the search for real positive returns and developments in the interest rate space. We reiterate that this may be a great period to pick up some quality names with a medium to long-term investment horizon.”
Kayode Tokede
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