Emmanuel OchayiIn a day marked by muted market movement, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) witnessed a slight uptick, with the All-Share Index (ASI) inching up by 0.02% to settle at 71,025.16 points on Thursday.
Despite the closure, the market’s capitalization reached N39.062 trillion, marking a modest increase of N7.8 billion.
Expressing his perspective on the day’s performance, financial analyst Sarah Johnson remarked, “Today’s session reflects a stable yet cautious investor sentiment. While the numbers might not appear significant, the market’s ability to sustain the N39 trillion market cap threshold showcases underlying strength.”
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The trading scene portrayed a scenario of reduced activity, with a surge in trading volume to 483.848 million units—an increase of 62.7% compared to the previous day. However, the total trading value saw a dip to N4.38 billion from the N6.16 billion recorded earlier.
Johnson added, “The increase in trading volume amidst a relatively lower trading value signals a cautious play by investors, possibly favoring quantity over substantial value in today’s trades.”
The market breadth leaned slightly negative, with 22 stocks closing in the green while 31 ended the day in the red. Notable gainers included NSLTECH (+10.00%), DEAPCAP (+10.00%), and CILEASING (+9.95%), while ABCTRANS (-10.00%), ETRANZACT (-9.93%), and TIP (-9.80%) led the list of decliners.
Top traded stocks showcased REGALINS (-2.78%) leading in volume with 104.34 million units, followed by OANDO (+1.30%) with 55.28 million units, and UNIVINSURE (-4.00%) with 53.4 million units. In terms of value, OANDO topped the charts with N676.6 million, trailed by GTCO with N670.4 million.
The day’s trading highlighted relatively stagnant movements among heavyweight stocks like BUACEMENT, BUAFOODS, DANGCEM, SEPLAT, and AIRTELAFRI, which recorded no price changes. Similarly, Tier-1 banks such as FBNH and ACCESSCORP showed no price adjustments, while ZENITHBANK (-0.74%) and UBA (-0.48%) observed slight declines, with GTCO (+0.14%) showing an upturn.
“Investor attention remains on stocks displaying resilience in these uncertain times, as evidenced by the continued focus on certain heavyweights despite today’s subdued market activity,” remarked Johnson, emphasizing the ongoing focus on stocks exhibiting stable performance.
As the market navigates through nuanced trading patterns, analysts remain cautiously optimistic about its capacity to weather uncertainties, underpinned by the resilience displayed in reaching and sustaining the N39 trillion milestone.
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