Today, the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated 34bps to close at 25,335.15 points following buying interest in BUA Cement (+4.1 per cent), Dangote Sugar (+2.8 per cent) and UBA (+0.8per cent). Consequently, investors gained N44.4bn as market capitalisation increased to N13.2tn, while year-to-date loss eased to -5.6 per cent.
Activity level was mixed as volume traded advanced 16.6 per cent to 268.7m units, while value traded declined 48.3 per cent to N1.2bn. The most active stocks by volume were Mbenefit (99.4m units) FCMB (21.9m units), and FBNH (17.9m units), while Guaranty Trust Bank (N170.4m), Zenith Bank (N168.1m) and MTN Nigeria (N99.7m) led the value chart. Performance across sectors under review was mildly bullish as three of six indices closed in the green.
The Industrial Goods Index led gainers up 2.6 per cent due to sustained interest in BUA Cement (+4.1 per cent). Meanwhile, gains in Mbenefit (+10.0 per cent), Dangote Sugar (+2.7 per cent) and Honey Flour (+1.2 per cent) pushed the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices higher by 0.4 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.
Conversely, the banking index declined 0.2 per cent due to price depreciation in FBNH (-2.7 per cent) and Access bank (-0.8 per cent), while the AFR-ICT index closed flat. Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth fell to 0.6x from the 2.8x recorded in the previous session as 13 stocks gained relative to 22 losers. The top gainers were Royalex (+10.0 per cent), BOC Gas (+10.0 per cent) and Mbenefit (+10.0 per cent), while Mobil (-8.0 per cent), Fidson (-7.7 per cent) and Japaul Oil (-7.4 per cent) were top decliners.
