Market News

By Temitope Aina

The Nigerian Exchange on Tuesday sustained its positive momentum as investors’ appetite for insurance and banking stocks lifted the market with a gain of N254bn, extending the bullish run recorded in the previous session.

At the close of trading, the market capitalisation of listed equities rose to N88.5tn from N88.25tn recorded the previous day, reflecting the N254bn increase. The All-Share Index advanced by 401.36 points, or 0.29 per cent, to settle at 139,796.11 points.

Analysis of trading data showed that a total of 659,163,979 shares valued at N12.50bn were exchanged in 25,320 deals. This represented a 30 per cent decline in volume, turnover, and number of deals compared with Monday’s session.

Market breadth closed positive as 36 equities appreciated in value against 19 that declined, while 72 closed flats.

On the gainers’ chart, Regency Alliance Insurance led with a 10 per cent appreciation to close at N1.43 per share. It was followed by MeCure Industries, which rose 9.92 per cent to N21.60; E-Tranzact International, which advanced 9.73 per cent to N12.40; Daar Communications, with a gain of 9.57 per cent to N1.03; and Deap Capital, which climbed 9.52 per cent to N1.84 per share.

Conversely, Unilever Nigeria topped the losers’ table with a 9.79 per cent decline to close at N63.15 per share. FTN Cocoa Processors trailed with a loss of 9.40 per cent to N5.40, followed by Ellah Lakes, which dipped 8.76 per cent to N13.02; Linkage Assurance, which shed 6.85 per cent to N2.04; and Berger Paints, which fell 6.33 per cent to N35.50 per share.

Trading activity was dominated by financial services stocks, with FCMB Group emerging as the most traded by volume, accounting for 202.49 million shares valued at N2.09bn. Universal Insurance followed with 63.14 million shares worth N79.39m, while First HoldCo transacted 44.23 million shares worth N1.34bn. Regency Alliance Insurance and AccessCorp also recorded significant activity, with 30.98 million shares and 26.12 million shares traded, respectively.

In terms of value, GTCO led the chart with N1.50bn, followed by First HoldCo with N1.34bn, MTNN with N800.11m, and AccessCorp with N676.41m.

Performance across the market indices was largely positive. The NGX Top 30 Index advanced 0.32 per cent, the NGX Insurance Index rose 0.98 per cent, the NGX Industrial Index improved 0.85 per cent, and the NGX Banking Index gained 0.43 per cent. Similarly, the NGX Premium Index recorded a 0.47 per cent increase, while the NGX Consumer Goods Index appreciated 0.28 per cent.

On a weekly basis, the market has recorded a marginal gain of 0.05 per cent but still reflects a four-week decline of 4.17 per cent. Year-to-date, however, the NGX All-Share Index has returned a strong gain of 35.82 per cent, underscoring sustained investor interest in the equities market.

Market analysts noted that the uptrend was largely supported by sustained demand in low- and medium-capitalised stocks, particularly within the insurance and banking subsectors, even as broader market sentiment remained cautious.

The PUNCH reported that the Nigerian Exchange resumed the new trading week on a positive note, gaining N263bn in market capitalisation as investors took positions in consumer goods and insurance stocks, particularly PZ Cussons Nigeria and University Press Plc.