The Nigerian equities market extended Wednesday’s gain, as interest in tier 1 banks, ZENITHBANK and GUARANTY pushed the All-Share Index higher by 0.5% to 38,914.84 points. Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses moderated to -2.2% and -3.4%, respectively.
The total volume of trades increased significantly by 727.8% to 1.47 billion units, valued at NGN5.85 billion, and exchanged in 4,040 deals. UNITYBNK was the most traded stock by volume at 1.00 billion units, while GUARANTY was the most traded stock by value at NGN3.55 billion.
Analyzing by sectors, the Banking (+4.4%) and Industrial Goods (+0.2%) indices recorded gains, while the Insurance (-0.8%), Consumer Goods (-0.2%) and Oil & Gas (-0.1%) declined.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (2.0x), as 22 tickers gained, relative to 11 losers. ETERNA (+10.0%) and LASACO (+8.3%) recorded the day’s largest gains, while WAPIC (-9.1%) and LINKASSURE (-9.1%) topped the losers’ list.
CURRENCY
The naira appreciated slightly at the I&E window by 2bps to NGN409.67/USD but stayed flat at NGN485.00/USD in the parallel market.
[Cordros Capital]
