Sentiments in the Nigerian stock market remained positive as the All-Share Index advanced by 0.6% to close at 102,149.93 points. Today’s performance was buoyed by bargain hunting activities in SEPLAT (+10.0%) and GEREGU (+5.4%), contributing to the Year-to-Date return increasing to +36.6%.
The total volume traded increased by 3.2% to 504.19 million units, valued at NGN10.30 billion, in 12,235 deals. UBA emerged as the most traded stock by volume, with 74.88 million units, and by value, amounting to NGN2.25 billion.
Across sectors, the Oil & Gas (+4.9%), Insurance (+2.0%), Banking (+1.4%), and Consumer Goods (+0.1%) indices recorded gains, while the Industrial Goods (-0.1%) index experienced a slight decline.
Market breadth, measured by the ratio of gainers to losers, was positive (1.2x), with 32 tickers gaining relative to 27 losers. Notable gainers of the day included UNIVINSURE (+10.0%) and SEPLAT (+10.0%), while IKEJAHOTEL (-9.9%) and HONYFLOUR (-9.7%) led the losers’ list.
Currency Market: The naira depreciated by 2.1% to NGN900.96/USD at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM). While, The overnight lending rate expanded by 180 basis points to 21.8%, driven by the absence of any significant outflows from the system.
Activities in the Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTB) secondary market were muted, as the average yield closed flat at 6.7%. Similarly, the average yield remained at 8.4% in the Open Market Operations (OMO) segment.
In the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bond secondary market, trading was quiet, with the average yield unchanged at 13.5%.
Analysts at Cordros Capital describe the positive momentum in the stock market as one that reflects ongoing investor confidence and interest, with notable gains in key sectors. However, currency depreciation and fluctuations in the money market continue to influence overall market dynamics.
