The Nigerian stock market on Monday commenced a new week on a positive note as the market tilted in favour of investors with a collective gain of N273 billion, supported largely by positive sentiments in the shares of Airtel Africa.
Bargain-hunting in the shares of Airtel led to N50 gain or and 3.1% upward movement in its price to close the session at N1,660 per share from N1,610 per share it opened the session.
With this against its 3,758,151,504 shares outstanding, the telecoms company recorded N188 billion profit, thus contributing 68.87% to the aggregate returns for the session.
All-share index (ASI), the benchmark index that tracks performance of the stock market, jacked up by 0.95% to close the day at 53,157.83 basis points from 52,657.88 points it closed last week.
Similarly, the aggregate value of listed equity assets at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed higher at N28.954 trillion from N28.681 trillion is opened the day.
The total volume traded increased by 17.7% to 201.36 million units, valued at N5.67 billion, and exchanged in 4,332 deals. ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by volume at 36.76 million units, while GEREGU was the most traded stock by value at N1.79 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Banking (+0.7%), Consumer Goods (+0.2%), and Industrial Goods (+0.1%) indices recorded gains, while the Oil & Gas index closed flat. The Insurance (-1.2%) index was the sole loser for the day.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.9x), as 28 tickers gained relative to 15 losers. GEREGU (+10.0%) and JOHNHOLT (+10.0%) topped the gainers’ list, while WAPIC (-8.9%) and TRIPPLEG (-8.6%) recorded the most significant losses of the day.
