Nigeria: Equities market opens week bullish as ASI adds 0.07%

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Equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) opened the week, as the All Share Index (ASI) edged slightly higher by 0.07 percent to settle at 96,037.28 basis points.

Notably, investors interest in BUA Foods, Zenith Bank and First Bank of Nigeria Holdings were the primary drivers of the overall market’s positive performance having appreciated in share vale by 5.73 percent, 0.13 percent and 0.98 percent, respectively.

Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns printed -1.8 percent and +28.4 percent, respectivelyMarket capitalisation followed suit, climbing by 0.07 percent to reach N55.17 trillion, translating to a gain of approximately N37 billion for investors.

This gain was accompanied by a favorable market breadth, as 28 stocks advanced while 18 declined.Notable gainers on the performance table included Eterna, which surged by 10.00 percent, Okomu Oil Palm by 9.99 percent, R T Briscoe by 9.96 percent, Oando by 9.93 percent, and Japaul Gold by 9.73 per cent.

Sectoral performance was predominantly bullish, with the Consumer Goods sector leading the pack with a 1.83 percent gain.

The Insurance sector saw a robust 1.05 percent increase, and the Oil/Gas and Industrial Goods sectors recorded modest gains of 0.73 percent and 0.01 percent, respectively.

The Banking sector was the only one to slip, falling by 0.41 percent, primarily due to a decline in Access Holdings share price.

The market maintained its bullish stance with increased trading activity as analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 15.73 percent.

A total of 390.51 million shares valued at N3.88 billion were exchanged in 9,242 deals.Veritas Capital led the volume chart, with 67.27 million units traded while Zenith Bank led the value chart in deals worth N503.54 million.