Banking Stocks Lift NGX Index as investors Gain N338bn

 Kayode Tokede

Investors’ appetite for banking stocks on the trading floor of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) yesterday lifted the All-Share Index (ASI) from the negative region even as investors gained N338 billion.

The rebound therefore, ended two days of losing streak as investors continued to focus on fundamentally sound stocks, impressive Half Year (H1) 2023 results and dividend payment from banks such as Zenith Bank and UBA which filed their results to the investing community.

Specifically, rally on the shares of AccessCorp gained 9.77 per cent, UBA rose by 9.78 per cent and Zenith Bank Plc added 0.74 per cent per cent supported the market, resulting in 0.93 per cent increase in the benchmark All Share Index (ASI) to 67,373.88 points from 66,760.20 points recorded in the previous session. 

Also, the market capitalisation closed at N36.876 trillion from N36.538 trillion, representing a 0.93 per cent  or N338 billion gain to investors.

Accordingly, the year-to-date (YTD) return increased to 31.47 per cent. Performance across the sectors was bullish with the banking sector appreciating by 4.58 per cent, while the Insurance index and Consumer Goods Index rose by 2.27 per cent and 1.27 per cent.

On the flipside, the Oil and Gas Index fell by -0.12 per cent while Industrial Goods Index dipped by -0.03 per cent.

Analysis of the activity level showed that the total traded volume of stocks plunged by 11.76 per cent to 569.633 million units, while value of stocks traded declined by 20.99 per cent to N8.70 billion which changed hands in 8.405 deals. This is against 645.54 million units and N11.01 billion, exchanged in 10,554 deals recorded in the previous trading session.

Oando Plc was the most active stock as it transacted 143.44 million units valued at N1.39 billion. AccessCorp sold 63.55 million units worth N1.07 billion while Fidelity Bank transacted 39.55 million units valued at N31.37 million.

Reacting to this development, analysts at Afrinvest, said that they expect a positive performance on the local bourse as investors hunt for bargains amid improved sentiment. Meanwhile, investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, improved as 34 stocks appreciated while 23 others depreciated in value. Dangote Sugar (+10 per cent) led the gainers’ chart while Courtville (-10 per cent) topped the losers’ chart.