Investors gain N37bn at stock market

Investors’ interest in the stocks of BUA Foods, FBN Holdings, and Zenith Bank, among other advanced equities, boosted the Nigerian stock market index by N37 billion on Monday, August 26, 2024.

The market capitalisation which opened at N55.129 trillion gained N37 billion or 0.07 per cent to close at N55.166 trillion.

The All-Share Index also rose by 0.07 per cent or 64 points to settle at 96,037.28, against 95,973.45 recorded on Friday, August 23.

Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return increased by 28.44 per cent.

The market breadth also closed positive with 28 gainers and 18 losers on the floor of the Exchange.

On the gainers’ table, Eterna led by 10 per cent to close at N23.10 per share, while Transnational Power led the losers’ table by 9.99 per cent to close at N335.20 per share.

Analysis of the stock market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session with the value of transactions down by 15.73 per cent.

A total of 390.51 million shares valued at N3.88 billion were exchanged in 9,242 deals, in contrast to 327.28 million shares valued at N4.61 billion traded in 7,351 deals posted in the previous session.

Naira trades N1,596/$ at official market

Meanwhile, Veritas Kapital led the activity chart in volume with 67.27 million shares, while Zenith Bank led the chart in value with deals worth N503.54 million.

In its weekly financial review and outlook, analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited said the stock market index’s current position is below the T-line.

The analysts explained that this was along with the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) and 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) signals underlying weakness in the market.

They noted that the alignment of technical indicators reflects a broader caution, suggesting that the market is struggling amid evolving fundamentals and technical conditions.

“The breach of these key moving averages often point to a potential downtrend, indicating that market sentiment remains bearish for the time being,” the analysts said.

The Star