The Nigerian stock market started the week with a modest increase, gaining N17 billion to bring the market capitalization to N56.945 trillion. This 0.03% rise follows Friday’s close at N56.928 trillion. The All-Share Index also saw a slight uptick, moving from 100,539.40 to 100,568.60, marking a 0.03% increase and pushing the Year-To-Date (YTD) return to 34.50%.
This positive performance was largely driven by gains in key stocks such as Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Fidelity Bank, and Dangote Sugar. Market breadth closed positively, with 23 gainers and 15 losers.
Leading the gainers’ chart, Tantalizers rose by 8.89% to close at 49k, followed by Livestock Feed Plc with an 8.18% increase to N2.38 per share. Neimeth, McNichols, and Julius Berger also posted significant gains.
On the flip side, Caverton topped the losers’ chart, falling by 9.68% to N1.40. Royal Exchange dropped 6.94% to 67k per share, while Veritas Kapital, International Breweries, and Honeywell Flour saw declines of 4.72%, 4.42%, and 4.23% respectively.
Trading volume was lower than the previous session, with 335.70 million shares valued at N3.72 billion exchanged in 8,760 deals, compared to Friday’s 603.88 million shares valued at N9.16 billion in 9,988 deals. Ellahlakes led in trading volume with 110.68 million shares worth N332.02 million, while United Capital topped in value with trades worth N778.61 million.
Analysts from Cowry Asset Management Ltd. predict that the anticipation of more earnings releases and attractive dividend declarations will drive positive sentiment. However, they also caution that the outcomes of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting and other economic news could lead to mixed sentiments among market players.
