The All-Share Index of the Nigerian Exchange Limited crossed the unprecedented level of 68,279.14 basis points barely a week after it broke a 15-year record set on March 5, 2008.
The ASI rose by 1.11 per cent on Monday to hit 68,279.14. The ASI had hit 66,490.34 points last Tuesday.
The exceptional performance was primarily attributed to the remarkable surge in banking stocks, with financial institutions such as Zenith Bank and GTCO leading the charge.
Investors strategically positioned themselves to capitalise on the recent impressive earnings reports released by select banks over the weekend. Additionally, the demand for shares in BUA Foods contributed to this positive market sentiment.
As a result of this interest, the market capitalisation experienced a notable increase of N411bn, closing at N37.369tn compared to the previous figure of N36.958tn. This remarkable performance pushed the year-to-date) return to 33.22 per cent.
Despite the overall positive trend, sectoral performance within the market was mixed as the Banking Index boasting a significant gain of 5.65 per cent, was at the forefront, driven by strong performances from Zenith Bank and GTCO. The Consumer Goods Index also posted gains at 1.57 per cent, while the Insurance (-2.81 per cent) and Industrial Index (-0.14 per cent) faced losses. Meanwhile, the NGX Oil and Gas Index remained stable.
Market activity witnessed a substantial uptick, with trading volume surging by 67.88 per cent to 845.680m units, and the value of stocks traded increased by 88.56 per cent to reach N13.03bn. This was evident in 11,934 deals, compared to the previous session’s 503.74 million units, N6.91bn in value, and 7,606 deals.
Notably, Zenith Bank led the activity chart with 75.411 million shares sold, valued at N2.79bn. GTCO followed closely with the sale of 54.80m shares worth N2.20bn, while Dangote Sugar transacted 20.85 million shares valued at N1.38bn.
Market breadth ended on a positive note, with 39 stocks experiencing gains in value, while 19 stocks saw a decline. Dangote Sugar emerged as the top gainer with an impressive 10 per cent increase in stock value. Conversely, Chi Plc led the group of declining securities, with a 9.57 per cent decrease in stock value.
