Banking Stocks Drive N80bn Surge on NGX as FCMB, Fidelity Bank Lead Gains

Samuel Mobolaji

Equities investors saw a gain of about N80 billion on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), with banking stocks dominating buy orders. Key performance indicators advanced by 14 basis points, kicking off the week on a positive note.

Data from the NGX revealed that the All-Share Index rose by 138.61 points, closing at 98,386.60. This continued the positive trend from last week, fuelled by increased investor interest in the Banking and Consumer Goods sectors.

Although, market activity was mixed, because while the volume of stocks traded surged by 46.23 per cent, the total value of traded stocks dropped by 18.06 per cent. Atlass Portfolio Limited reported that approximately 810.43 million units worth N8, 293.18 million were traded across 10,669 deals.

TRANSCORP was the most actively traded stock by volume, accounting for 16.29 per cent of the total, followed by FIDELITYBK (10.52 per cent), ACCESSCORP (6.12 per cent), NPFMCRFBK (6.00 per cent), and ELLAHLAKES (4.55 per cent).

In terms of value, TRANSCORP also led, capturing 13.26 per cent of the total value of trades. FCMB and MCNICHOLS topped the gainers’ chart with 10.00 per cent price appreciation each, followed closely by FIDELITYBK (+9.93 per cent), TANTALIZER (+9.84 per cent), and FLOURMILL (+9.81 per cent).

Despite the positive gains, twenty stocks depreciated, with BERGER leading the decliners at -9.83 per cent, followed by DAARCOMM (-9.33 per cent) and NSLTECH (-7.46 per cent).

Overall market breadth remained positive, recording 32 gainers and 20 losers. However, sector performance was mixed, with declines in the Insurance (-0.37 per cent), Oil & Gas (-0.09 per cent), and Industrial (-0.07 per cent) sectors. The Banking and Consumer Goods sectors advanced by 0.95 per cent and 0.24 per cent, respectively.

As a result, the equities market capitalisation grew by N79.65 billion, representing a 0.14 per cent increase to N56.54 trillion.