Equities market extends gains by N136.54bn

Samuel Mobolaji

The Nigerian equities market on Tuesday opened the week strong as the market capitalization gained N136.54billion to close at N28.10trillion.

Also, the local bourse benchmark index gained 0.49 per cent to close at 51,606.49 points.

A the close of first trading activities after the Eid el Fitr holidays, which was declared by the Federal Government of Nigeria, the market performance was primarily driven by demand in telco heavyweight MTNN (+2.23%) alongside ZENITHBANK (+0.46%), WAPCO (+1.96%) and STANBIC (+3.93%).

As a result, the ASI year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 0.69 per cent.

Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 75.08 per cent.

A total of 2.09bn shares valued at N8.85billion were exchanged in 6,404 deals. TRANSCORP (+9.80%) led the volume and value charts with 1.66bn units traded in deals worth N4.09billion.

Market breadth closed positive at a 3.86-to-1 ratio with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones. JAPAULGOLD (+10.00%) topped twenty-six (26) others on the leader’s log while WAPIC (-7.32%) topped six (6) others on the laggard’s table.