NGX Pops as Banking, Insurance Stocks Rally

The equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange, NGX, popped up Wednesday following buying interest in banking and insurance companies’ shares. Key market indicators inched upward over higher stakes in growth and value stock amidst changing dynamics in the money market and surging inflation rate.

Specifically, the Nigerian Exchange All share index advanced slightly by 0.06%, according to trading data despite the fact that stock market breadth closed negative – recording more losers than gainers.

Given the buying momentum, the equities market year-to-date returns rose to 7.19% following a 31.43 basis points increase in the benchmark index which printed at 54,936.11 points.

Stockbrokers at Atlass Portfolios Limited stated that market activities were mixed compared to the previous day, as the total volume traded increased by +5.02%.

In contrast, the total value traded in the stock market for the day declined by -16.15%. Approximately 134.15 million units valued at ₦1,330.47 million were transacted in 2,479 deals.

Data obtained from the Nigerian Exchange showed that TRANSCORP was the most traded stock in terms of volume, accounting for 21.02% of the total volume of trades.

The conglomerate was followed by UBA (15.87%), COURTVILLE (14.30%), GTCO (10.13%), and FBNH (6.07%) to complete the top 5 on the volume chart. On account of positive sentiment, GTCO was the most traded stock in value terms, with 25.33% of the total value of trades on the exchange.

Then, GTCO and WAPIC were the top joint gainers with a price appreciation of 2.44 per cent, trailed by LINKASSURE (2.22%), LASACO (2.04%), TRANSCORP (1.56%), FIDELITYBK (1.35%), and three (3) others.

Stockbrokers said fourteen stocks depreciated. NCR was the top loser, with a price depreciation of -9.69%.

Then came FTNCOCOA which lost -6.90% of its market valuation. JAPUALGOLD was priced down by 6.67%. CUTIX lost 4.95% and UCAP dropped by 2.46%. Based on the trading pattern, the market breadth closed negative, recording 9 gainers and 14 losers.

And, stock market sector performance closed negative, as two of the five major sectors dropped slightly. The Consumer goods index declined by 0.02% and the Banking index fell by 0.01%.

On the positive side, the Insurance index grew by +0.08% while the Industrial and Oil & Gas sectors closed unchanged.

Overall, equities market capitalisation popped up by ₦17.12 billion, representing a marginal growth of +0.06% to close at ₦29,927.07 trillion from ₦29,909.95 trillion yesterday. # NGX Pops as Banking, Insurance Stocks Rally.