Nigeria’s stock market extended its winning streak on Wednesday, eking out marginal gains as investors snapped up NCR Nigeria Plc and several mid-cap stocks.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index (ASI) rose 10.77 points, or 0.01 percent, to close at 166,267.60, lifting year-to-date returns to 6.9 percent. Market capitalisation added N7 billion to settle at N106.44 trillion.
Sector performance was mixed. The Industrial Goods index advanced 0.1 percent, while Insurance fell 1 percent, Oil and Gas dropped 0.9 percent, and Banking slipped 0.3 percent. Consumer Goods ended flat.
Market breadth stayed firmly positive, with 54 gainers against 24 losers. McNichols, NCR Nigeria and RT Briscoe topped the advancers’ chart, each jumping 10 percent to close at N6.93, N171.05 and N4.95 respectively. Jaiz Bank climbed 9.99 percent to N7.93, while May & Baker added 9.95 percent to N43.65.
On the downside, Champion Breweries led the laggards, shedding 9.31 percent to N19.00. Secure Electronic Technology fell 6.78 percent to N1.10, Wapic Insurance lost 6.69 percent to N3.35, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated slid 6 percent to N47.00. AXA Mansard Insurance dipped 5.63 percent to N15.10.
Trading activity strengthened, with volume rising 3.43 percent to 822.74 million shares worth N24.93 billion across 43,548 deals. Zichis Agro-Allied led turnover with 69.22 million shares valued at N150.91 million, followed by Secure Electronic Technology and Access Holdings. Zenith Bank and Tantalizers rounded out the most active stocks.
Looking ahead, analysts at Futureview said investors are likely to remain cautious, focusing on fundamentally strong stocks trading at attractive valuations.
