Stock Market Gains N2.7tn in Two Days as NGX All-Share Crosses 87,000

The domestic stock market appreciated by N2.7 trillion as investors' trading activities surged over build-up towards the release of 2023 corporate earnings by listed companies.

The market capitalisation gained N2.7 trillion or 5.9per cent to close yesterday at N48.139 trillion, from N45.442 trillion the stock market opened for trading this week.

A breakdown of the numbers by THISDAY revealed that the stock market on opening trading this week gained N875 billion, driven by the investors' surge demand for Geregu Power Plc and 67 others.

The stock market extended its bullish streak in yesterday's trading session, largely influenced by position-taking activities from which investors saw approximately N1.822 trillion in gains. The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index (NGX ASI) crossed 87,000 basis points yesterday.

The stock market that opened for trading this week at 83,042.96 basis points has gained 4,928.14 basis points or 5.9 per cent to close yesterday at 87,971.10 basis points.

However, the stock market's positive momentum yesterday was driven by price appreciation in large and medium-capitalised stocks among which were Dangote Cement, BUA Cement, Dangote Sugar Refinery, NASCON Allied Industries and Julius Berger.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 77 stocks gained relative to 10 losers. Berger Paints, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Flour Mills of Nigeria, FTN Cocoa Processors, Honeywell Flour Mills, Lafarge Africa, NASCON, Nigerian Breweries, Transnational Corporations (Transcorp), Universal Insurance and Sterling Financial Holdings Company emerged the highest price gainers of 10 per cent each to close at N15.40, N81.40, N45.10, N2.20, N4.40, N47.30, N71.50, N41.25, N15.95, 44 kobo and N7.59 per share respectively.

Unity Bank, Wema Bank and BUA Cement followed with a gain of 9.96 per cent each to close at N2.98, N10.60 and N112.65 respectively; while Jaiz Bank and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings advanced by 9.94 per cent each to close at N3.65 and N1.77 per share respectively.

On the other side, Royal Exchange led the losers' chart with 8.16 per cent to close at 90 kobo, per share. Multiverse Mining & Exploration followed with a decline of 6.59 per cent to close at N17.00, while Ellah Lakes shed 4.79 per cent to close at N3.38, per share.

Oando lost 3.60 per cent to close at N12.05, while UACN depreciated by 3.13 per cent to close at N15.50, per share.

The total volume traded advanced by 34.8 per cent to 1.09 billion units, valued at N16.05 billion, and exchanged in 14,835 deals. Transactions in the shares of Jaiz Bank led the activity with 150.639 million shares worth N508.443 million.

AIICO Insurance followed with 99.057 million shares valued at N129.127 million, while FCMB Group traded 67.597 million shares valued at N814.174 million.

Sterling Financial Holdings Company traded 55.838 million shares worth N417.078 million, while Transcorp traded 48.921 million shares worth N774.642 million.

Analysts at Cordros Research said, “In the short term, we expect market performance to be dominated by the bulls, as positioning for 2023FY earnings releases and accompanying dividends declarations should outweigh profit-taking activities.

“Notwithstanding, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks, as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.”

Looking ahead, analysts at United Capital Plc said, “We expect positive sentiment to drive the market, as bargain hunting continues. We expect the local bourse to record a positive performance this week. Investors are expected to continue to cherry-pick stocks with strong fundamentals, (value or growth) for dividend scouting investors, ahead of full year, 2023 earnings season. At different intervals, we expect profit booking and mild sell-offs.”