Investors renew interest in Tier-1 banks, gain N271bn

cover, Financial Markets

The Nigerian Stock Market on Tuesday extended gains from its previous session by adding N271 billion to the portfolios of investors.

Notably, the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market capitalisation, which opened at N55.166 trillion, gained N271 billion or 0.49 per cent to close at N55.437 trillion.

The All-Share Index also advanced by 0.49 per cent or 473 points to close at 96,510.13, against 96,037.28 recorded on Monday.

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Investors’ buy interest in Tier-one banking stocks, namely: Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, United Bank For Africa (UBA) and Access Corporation, amongst other advanced equities drove the market’s performance up.

As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return rose to 29.07 per cent.

Also, market breadth closed positive with 49 gainers and 14 losers on the floor of the Exchange.

On the gainers’ log, John Holt, Julius Berger, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals and Total Plc, led by 10 per cent each to close at N3.08, N143, N2.20, N619.30 per share respectively.

Skye Shelter Fund (SFSREIT) followed closely by 9.99 per cent to close at N134.90 per share.

Conversely, UPL led the losers’ log by 9.58 per cent to close at N2.17, Cutix Plc trailed by 6.25 per cent to close at N3 per share.

Vitafoam also lost 5.17 per cent to close at N18.35; Transnational Corporation dropped 5.08 per cent to close at N11.20; while Linkage Assurance shed N5 to close at 95k per share.

Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 45.08 per cent.

A total of 443.16 million shares valued at N5.64 billion were exchanged in 8,493 deals, compared to 390.51 million shares valued at N3.88 billion traded in 9,242 deals posted previously.

Again for the second session in a row, Veritas Kapital led the activity chart in volume with 83.08 million shares, while Access Corporation led the chart in value with deals worth 1.06 billion. (NAN)