Stanbic IBTC, ETI, NGX drive equities market surge by N884bn

The Nigerian equities market closed on a bullish note on Tuesday, with investors recording a gain of N884 billion.

The positive performance was driven by buying interest in stocks such as Stanbic IBTC, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Nigerian Exchange Ltd., Cornerstone Insurance, and Mercure, alongside 37 other advancing equities.

Market capitalisation rose by 0.67 per cent, increasing from N131.608 trillion to N132.492 trillion.

In the same vein, the All-Share Index advanced by 1,372.52 points, or 0.67 per cent, climbing from 204,458.86 to 205,831.38.

Consequently, the Year-to-Date return grew to 32.27 per cent.

The market breadth also closed positive with 42 gainers and 21 losers.

Stanbic IBTC and Ecobank Transnational topped the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, settling at N161.70 and N50.60 per share respectively.

Also, NGX Group gained by 9.97 per cent, closing at N168.75, Cornerstone Insurance added by 9.94 per cent, finishing at N5.64 while Mercure increased by 9.92 per cent, closing at N67.60 per share.

Conversely, Fortis Global Insurance led the losers’ chart by 8.20 per cent, ending the session at N1.12, Mc Nichols trailed by 8.17 per cent, finishing at N6.52 and Academy lost by 6.96 per cent, settling at N7.35 per share.

International Energy Insurance dropped by 6.88 per cent, closing at N3.25 while Guinea Insurance fell by 5.83 per cent, ending the session at N1.13 per share.

Analysis of the market activity revealed 21 per cent growth in volume, 0.62 per cent decline in value and 25 per cent fall in deals.

A total of 569.3 million shares worth N32.25 billion were traded across 45,777 transactions, compared with 470.01 million shares valued at N32.45 billion that was exchanged in 60,793 deals earlier on Monday.

Meanwhile, Access Corporation led the activity chart in volume with 67.53 million shares worth N1.75 billion while Zenith Bank followed with 39.74 million shares valued at N4.5 billion.

VFD Group sold 37.61 million shares worth N422.99 million, Guaranty Trust Holding Company transacted 30.57 million shares valued at N3.79 billion while Lasaco Assurance traded 26.31 million shares worth N52.61 million.