The market capitalisation of equities listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited rose by N317.48billion at the end of trading on Tuesday, with analysts attributing the bullish trend to gains in two telecommunications companies, Airtel Africa Plc and MTN Nigeria Communications Plc.
The NGX All-Share Index appreciated by 1.58 per cent to close at 39,176.62 basis points from 38,567.26bps on Monday while the market capitalisation increased to N20.41trillion from N20.09trillion.
Trading volume and value jumped by 143.41 per cent and 294.06 per cent respectively as 474.53 million shares valued at N3.98billion were exchanged in 4,161 deals, compared to 194.95 million shares worth N1.01billion in 3,830 deals on Monday.
“Bulls regained strength in the Nigerian equities market as investors reversed the previous day’s negative sentiment,” said analysts at Atlas Portfolios Limited.
“The market performance indicators grew significantly following the price appreciation in the highly capitalised tech stocks such as Airtel and MTN,” they added.
Cordros Capital said, “The domestic bourse reversed yesterday’s loss as foreign investors’ interest in Airtel (+10.38 per cent) drove the NGX ASI higher.
“Market sentiment as measured by market breadth was positive as 22 tickers gained, relative to sixteen losers.”
The gainers’ chart was led by Airtel as it closed at N101.00 per share. It was followed by Unity Bank Plc with a 10.00 per cent rise to N715.00 per share.
Juli Plc recorded the biggest loss on Tuesday with a 9.01 per cent decline, closing at N101.00 per share at the end of trading.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Company Plc dropped by 6.90 per cent to N0.54 per share, while Jaiz Bank Plc, Sunu Assurance Plc and Livestock Feeds Plc saw losses of 4.84 per cent, 4.26 per cent and 3.06 per cent respectively.
B.O.C Gases Plc was the most traded stock by volume and value at 249.77 million shares and N1.37billion respectively.
The market returned a 1.63 per cent increase month-to-date while it had depreciated by 2.72 per cent since the start of the year.
