Stock Market Sustains Rally with N1.56 Trillion Gain

The local bourse on Tuesday extended its positive performance as the bulls wax stronger to drive home another round of returns for investors in the market.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed the session with additional N1.559 trillion profit while the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 2,848.85 points.

Consequently, the valuation of total equities rose to N53.967 trillion while the benchmark index that tracks price movements of shares advanced to 98,616.97 basis points after a 2.98% growth.

This further reinforced the position of the Nigeria stock market as the global best-performing exchange among peers in 2024 with Year-to-Date returns already flying high at 31.9%.

Meanwhile, trading data showed that the rally was buoyed principally by sustained interest in the shares of Dangote Cement which saw a 10% growth to lead the bull charge for the day.

However, sectoral performance was mixed with three indices closing positive while two others were in the red.

Specifically, the Industrial Goods (+9.0%), Oil & Gas (+5.6%), and Consumer Goods (+1.9%) indices recorded gains, while the Insurance (-4.7%) and Banking (-2.7%) indices printed losses.

The market turnover for Tuesday was also higher with traded volume and value closing at 747.515 million shares valued at N16.276 billion in 16,589 transactions relative to 721.81 million share units worth N14.407 billion that exchange hands in 15,757 deals on Monday.

TRANSCORP was the most traded stock by volume at 77.71 million units, while DANGCEM was the most traded stock by value at NGN3.11 billion.

On the flip side, market sentiment was negative as 56 tickers lost relative to 17 gainers.

Speaking on the market’s bullish trend, the acting Managing Director of the NGX, Jude Chiemeka, said that the exchange was committed to providing a capital market that thrives on innovation and responds to the needs of stakeholders in accessing and utilising capital.

“Our market continues to be resilient in providing stakeholders with platforms to raise capital and invest. Last year, the NGX facilitated needed financing of N3.85 trillion in capital raised by government and corporates across assets classes.

“In our bid to fuel corporate development, the top five companies in Nigeria listed on our exchange paid taxes of over N262 billion and they paid dividends over N962 billion. So, the exchange continues to be a major contributor to the revenue drive of the government.”