Nigerian stocks soar, investors rake in N710bn in one day
- Total market value hits record N15.11tn
Nigerian stocks surged by nearly five percent on Tuesday, with investors gaining N710bn as the total market value crossed the N15 trillion mark.
A total of 45 stocks, led by Cornerstone Insurance Plc and International Breweries Plc, emerged gainers at the end of trading, compared to eight losers, with NPF Microfinance Bank Plc declining the most.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index rose to 28,909.37 basis points from 27,554.49bps on Monday while the market capitalisation of equities jumped to N15.11 trillion from N14.40tn.
“Bargain buying of large-cap stocks continues in the domestic bourse, as investors continue to seek real returns, amidst abysmal fixed income yields,” analysts at Lagos-based Cordros Capital Limited said in an emailed note.
They noted that investors’ interest in Dangote Cement Plc (+9.9 percent) and MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (+5.7%), amongst others, drove the benchmark index higher by 4.9 percent to 28,909.37 points – the largest gain in since April 1, 2015.
The month-to-date gain and year-to-date gain increased to 7.7 per cent each, according to the analysts.
The total volume of trades increased by 24.1 percent to 749.47 million units, valued at N9.50 billion and exchanged in 8,075 deals.
Zenith Bank Plc was the most traded stock by volume and value at 135.70 million units and N2.77 billion, respectively.
The banking index recorded the biggest gain (+7.5 percent), followed by the industrial goods (+5.6 percent), consumer goods (+3.0 percent), oil and gas (+1.2 percent) and insurance (0.3 per cent) indices.
