The Nigerian stock market started the first trading day of the week on a positive note, as positive sentiments dominated trading activities. The All Share Index (ASI) increased by 1.46% to close at 24,783.61 index points.
As a result, investors gained N186.60 billion even as the market capitalization improved from N12.742 trillion to N12.928 trillion.
A total of 169.9 million shares, valued at N2.38 billion, were traded by investors in 4,336 deals. FLOURMILL was the most traded stock by volume and value at 30.4 million units of shares valued at N518 million.
Unfortunately, market sentiment, as measured by market breadth, closed in favour of the bears with 19 tickers closing in red relative to 15 gainers. SEPLAT and BERGER PAINTS were the top losers of the day with -9.99% and -9.84% decline, while WAPCO and GUARANTY recorded the largest gains with +9.59% and +7.62% gains in share value.
The All Share Index rose as banking bellwethers buoyed the Banking Index by 3.71%. The Industrial Index gained 3.34% to support the positive movement in the ASI. However, the Oil & Gas, Insurance, and the Consumer Index dipped by -5.70%, -1.81%, and -0.32% respectively.
GUARANTY (+7.62%), ZENITHBANK (+2.58%), and UBA (+2.50%) boosted the Banking Index, while WAPCO (+9.59%) and DANGCEM (+5.66%) drove the Industrials. On the flip side, SEPLAT (-9.99%) led the laggards in the Energy Index, even as the Insurance and Consumer Goods Indexes fell no thanks to MANSARD (-10.00%), PZ (-8.99%), and CADBURY (-7.59%) declined
Top Gainers
- WAPCO was up 9.59% to close at N12
- GUARANTY was up 7.62% to close at N23.3
- DANGCEM was up 5.66% to close at N141.8
- ZENITHBANK was up 2.58% to close at N15.9
- UBA was up 2.50% to close at N6.15
Top Losers
- SEPLAT was down 9.99% to close at N312.7
- BERGER was down 9.84% to close at N5.5
- CAP was down 9.76% to close at N17.1
- CADBURY was down 7.59% to close at N6.7
- JBERGER was down 6.16% to close at N17.05
Outlook
The Nigerian bourse ended on a bullish note, as top tier-1 banks led by ZENITH, UBA, and GTB triggered the market movement upward. Other blue chips stocks like DANGOTE CEMENT also recorded gains. This notwithstanding, Nairametrics envisages cautious buying due to the reported resurgence of COVID-19 caseloads and the geopolitical tension between the world’s two superpowers.
