By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The bulls on Wednesday returned to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) halting a seven-day (7-day) losing streak as all-share index (ASI) inched up 0.27 percent to close at 34,208.30 points, while market capitalisation increased by N31.52 billion to close at N11.62 trillion.
This performance is hinged on the gains of top banking stocks namely, Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc bringing the current market Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) returns to a negative 1.30 percent.
Cordros market update reported that three (3) of the five (5) NSE Sectoral indices appreciated. “The Banking index topped the gainers’ list with a 1.26 percent increase, while the Consumer and Industrial Goods indices followed suit with 0.30 percent and 0.07 percent gains respectively,” the report added.
On the contrary, the Insurance index recorded the worst performance with a 1.14 percent plunge, while the Oil/Gas index declined marginally by 0.08 percent, the Cordros update affirmed.
At the close of business today on the Nigerian bourse, market breadth posted a negative outlook recording 20 gainers and 27 losers.
Nigerian glass maker, Beta Glass Plc emerged top gainer with a gain of N3.00; while Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), HoneywellFlour Mills Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of 0.20 kobo.
In terms of turnover, volume traded on the Nigerian equities market declined by 33.29 percent to 350.83 million shares, valued at N3.35 billion and traded in 4,154 deals.
“As the change of government draws closer, market optimism, based on policy and reform expectations, may begin to resurface,” Cordros affirmed.
This is coming on the heels of the confirmation on Wednesday of Mounir Gwarzo as the new director general (DG) of Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
