Equity: Stocks Rally Further By 0.27%

Following a recent rate rise, Nigeria’s stocks market saw its second positive finish on Thursday, advancing its upward trend by 0.27 percent or N157 billion.

Ahead of the Easter holidays, the market’s year-to-date (YtD) return has risen to 39.84 percent. In addition to recording respectable increases in Tier-II lenders, the market saw heightened investor interest in Tier-I banks, driving up their prices.

Investors were aggressively trading shares of Zenith Bank, GTCO, Access Holdings, UBA, and Fidelity Bank. Investors exchanged 623,075,241 shares valued at N16.954 billion in 10,257 transactions.

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Though analysts at Lagos-based Vetiva research had ahead of Thursday’s trading noted that the market might see moderated gains “while investors look for other undervalued stocks”.

Julius Berger rallied most, from N60.15 to N66, after adding N5.85 or 9.73percent. It was followed by Ikeja Hotel which rose from N5.85 to N6.43, up by 58kobo or 9.91percent.

Also, Morison went up from N1.60 to N1.76, adding 16kobo or 10percent, while UPDC REIT rose from N4.70 to N5.15, adding 45kobo or 9.57percent.

At the close of trading session on Thursday, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation increased further from preceding day’s lows of 104,283.64 points and N58.963trillion respectively to 104,562.06 points and N59.120trillion.