The Nigerian stock market opened the week on a positive note, as market capitalisation rose by 0.44 per cent to N140.435 trillion from N139.826 trillion, reflecting a gain of N609 billion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index advanced by 946.27 points, or 0.44 per cent, increasing from 217,167.57 to 218,113.84.
The upbeat performance was driven by gains in mid- and large-cap stocks such as Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, Union Dicon Salt, Fidelity Bank, Trans-Nationwide Express, Access Corporation, and 31 others.
Banking stocks were generally observed to have significantly driven the market.
While the year-to-date return rose to 40.16 per cent, market breadth closed positive, with 36 gainers and 35 losers.
Nigerian Aviation Handling Company and Union Dicon Salt led the gainers’ chart with 10 per cent each, settling at N242 and N18.15 per share, respectively.
Fidelity Bank gained 9.98 per cent to close at N22.05, Trans-Nationwide Express rose by 9.92 per cent to N6.65, while Access Corporation added 9.87 per cent to close at N32.85 per share.
Conversely, Stanbic IBTC and Livingtrust Mortgage Bank topped the losers’ chart with 10 per cent each, ending the session at N169.70 and N3.69 per share, respectively.
Similarly, Transcorp Power lost 9.97 per cent to close at N272.70, Abbey Mortgage Bank dropped 9.88 per cent to N7.30, and Guinea Insurance declined by 8.80 per cent to N1.14 per share.
A total of 983.9 million shares worth N50.8 billion were traded across 76,410 transactions, compared to 1.3 billion shares valued at N54.4 billion exchanged in 56,923 deals on Friday.
Analysis of the above shows that market activity declined by 21.79 per cent.
Access Corporation recorded the highest volume, with 91.65 million shares traded, accounting for 9.31 per cent of the day’s total volume.
Zenith Bank recorded the highest value at N7 billion, representing 13.80 per cent of the total value traded.
Analysing the market, Mr David Adonri, Vice President of Highcap Securities, said the equities rally was largely driven by strong performance in the banking sector.
He noted that significant buying interest was recorded in mid-tier banks such as Access Bank, Fidelity Bank and Sterling Bank, which witnessed heightened investor demand.
Adonri added that United Bank for Africa (UBA), which had traded below the N50 mark for a prolonged period, rebounded strongly during the session, crossing the N50 price level.
According to him, the banking sector recorded a highly bullish outing and played a decisive role in driving overall market performance.
“The banks were extremely bullish and they moved the market today,” he said.
