A flood of open market orders by foreign investors yesterday roused Nigerian equities to their second consecutive bullish trading session, with net capital gains of N417 billion in six-hour trading session.
Benchmark index for the Nigerian stock market crossed the 45,000 points threshold after foreign investors opened up orders and offered premium prices to attract deals on many large-cap stocks, especially in the telecommunication sector.
The All Share Index (ASI) – the value-based common index that tracks all share prices at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), crossed another threshold to close at 45,430.14 points as against its opening index of 44,655.89 points. This implied average return of 1.7 per cent, equivalent to net capital gain of N417 billion. The ASI doubles as Nigeria’s sovereign equities index and it is widely regarded as a measure of the Nigerian stock market and the economy generally.
Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the NGX rose from its opening value of N24.060 trillion to close at N24.477 trillion, representing an increase of N1.7 per cent or N417 billion. The concurrence between the ASI and market value underscored the fact that the increase in value was due to price gains rather than primary changes due to new listing, share redenomination, share reconstruction and others.
The sustained rally pushed the average year-to-date return for the Nigerian equities market to 6.4 per cent so far in 2022.
Market analysts said the positive overall market situation was driven largely by foreign investors’ demand for shares of Airtel Africa. Airtel Africa’s share price rose by the maximum daily allowable price change of 10 per cent to hit a high of N1,155.50. Another major gainer was Seplat Energy Plc, which rose by N30.10 or 4.36 per cent to close at N720.10 per share.
“In tomorrow’s trading session we expect the positive sentiment to linger,” Afrinvest Securities stated in an investment note after trading yesterday.
Sectoral analysis showed a near market-wide rally with all sectoral indices closing positive, with the exception of the NGX Consumer Goods Index, which dropped by 0.02 per cent. The NGX Oil & Gas Index appreciated by 2.2 per cent. The NGX Insurance Index rose by 0.6 per cent. The NGX Banking Index appreciated by 0.5 per cent while the NGX Industrial Goods Index closed flat.
The momentum of activities also improved as total turnover rose to 252.9 million shares worth N8.9 billion traded in 4,218 deals. Guaranty Trust Holding Company was the most active stock with a turnover of 25.5 million shares worth N649.4 million. There were 16 gainers against 17 losers.