(Greenwich Merchant Bank): The local stock market extended yesterday’s gains as the NGX-ASI and market capitalization increased by 0.36% to settle at 52,419.33 points and N28.54 trillion respectively, at the end of today’s trading session.
The top gainers were TRANSCORP 7.75%, NB 9.97%, MANSARD 6.40% and NEM 4.37%. Similarly, Year-To-Date, the market has gained 2.28%.
Today, market sentiment was mixed as the total volume fell by 7.91% while total value rose by 21.25% to close at 576.85 million units and N6.79 billion respectively. Also, UBA and ZENITHBANK emerged as the most traded stock by volume and value respectively.
The market breadth closed positive at 1.50x as a result of gains recorded in Twenty-Seven (27) stocks, while Eighteen (18) stocks depreciated.
On the sectoral index, performance was mixed as the Insurance (+3.19%), Banking (+1.10%), Consumer Goods (+0.85%) and Industrial (+0.06%) sectors recorded gains, while the Oil & Gas (-0.71%) sector closed negatively.
Fixed Income Market
The average system liquidity declined by 64.52% to close at N24.77 billion from its opening balance of N69.82 billion.
At the interbank market, both the Open Buy Back and Overnight rate increased by 25bps apiece to close at 13.38% and 14.13% respectively.
At the NTBills market, yields remained flat to close at 6.67%. Also, at the Bond market, activities was bearish as average yields increased marginally by 6bps to close at 14.37%.
The Naira exchange rate, at the I&E window, depreciated by N0.67 to N464.67/USD from N464.00/USD.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
