NGX opens week with N465bn gain on insurance, industrial rally

The Nigerian Exchange Limited opened the week on a positive note, gaining N465bn in market capitalisation on Monday as investors increased their interest in insurance and industrial stocks.

At the close of trading, the market capitalisation rose to N93.8tn from N93.35tn recorded on Friday, while the All-Share Index advanced by 729.17 points, or 0.5 per cent, to settle at 147,717.21 points.

The day’s performance was driven by price appreciation in stocks such as Sovereign Trust Insurance, Transcorp Power, Consolidated Hallmark Holdings, Haldane McCall, Custodian Investment, and Stanbic IBTC Holdings.

Sovereign Trust Insurance led the gainers’ chart with a 9.97 per cent increase to close at N3.53 per share, followed by Transcorp Power, which gained 8.92 per cent to close at N342 per share. Consolidated Hallmark Holdings appreciated 7.14 per cent to end at N4.50 per share, while Haldane McCall rose 6.8 per cent to N4.40 per share.

On the losers’ chart, Regency Alliance Insurance recorded the highest decline of 17.58 per cent to close at N1.36 per share. Triple Gee & Co. followed with a 9.92 per cent loss to close at N5.45, while Wema Bank and LivingTrust Mortgage Bank shed 4.51 per cent and 3.85 per cent to close at N19.05 and N5.00 per share, respectively.

Trading data showed a total of 624.58 million shares valued at N13.47bn exchanged in 31,531 deals, representing a 62 per cent improvement in volume, a 29 per cent rise in turnover, and a 45 per cent increase in the number of deals compared with the previous session.

Consolidated Hallmark Holdings recorded the highest volume of trade with 210.46 million shares valued at N909.65m. Fidelity Bank followed with 47.47 million shares worth N951.82m, while Chams traded 43.96 million shares valued at N191.63m.

In terms of value, MTN Nigeria led with trades worth N2.62bn, followed by Zenith Bank with N1.44bn, GTCO with N1.04bn, Fidelity Bank with N951.82m, and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings with N909.65m.

Performance across key indices showed that the Insurance Index advanced by 2.11 per cent, the Industrial Index gained 0.66 per cent, the Premium Index improved 0.5 per cent, and the Consumer Goods Index rose  0.23 per cent.

Overall, the market maintained a bullish momentum, recording a one-week gain of two per cent, a four-week gain of 5.1 per cent, and a year-to-date return of 43.52 per cent.

Analysts attributed the positive sentiment to renewed investor confidence in the market amid strong third-quarter earnings expectations and increased interest in defensive stocks within the insurance and industrial sectors.