The Nigerian stock market experienced a rebound on Wednesday, registering a 0.32% gain, buoyed by a surge in buying interest in top-tier bank shares. The market capitalisation, which opened at N58.775 trillion, saw an increase of N188 billion to close at N58.963 trillion.
The All-Share Index similarly rose by 331.2 points, ending the day at 104,283.64, up from 103,952.47 on Tuesday. This uptick brought the Year-To-Date (YTD) return to an impressive 39.47%.
“The market’s positive momentum is largely due to the release of encouraging financial reports by listed companies,” explained Mr. Moses Igbrude, National Coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN). He observed that investors were focusing on the dividend announcements, seemingly undeterred by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recent hike in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 24.75%.
Igbrude further commented, “Investors are prioritising the robust financial outcomes and dividend payouts over the CBN’s policy shift, which is a testament to the market’s resilience.”
The CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), in its second meeting of the year, raised the MPR by 200 basis points, while maintaining the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Liquidity ratio at 45% and 30%, respectively. Igbrude anticipates a continued upward trend in the market, especially with more positive financial disclosures expected from listed entities.
The market breadth concluded on a positive note, with 29 gainers against 20 losers. Leading the pack was Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), which closed at N7.15, marking a gain of 65k, and Juli Plc, which rose by 86k to close at N9.49 per share.
Conversely, Northern Nigeria Flour Mill (NNFM) topped the losers, dropping by N5.35 to close at N48.30, while Prestige Assurance fell by 6k to close at 56k per share.
The trading session also saw an increase in trade turnover by 9.92%. A total of 499.71 billion shares valued at N12.41 billion were traded in 10,260 deals, compared to 374.41 billion shares valued at N11.29 billion in 8,689 deals in the previous session.
Access Corporation was the volume leader with 83.60 million shares valued at N1.97 billion, followed by Zenith Bank with 53.20 billion shares worth N2.26 billion. UBA, GTCO, and Transnational Corporation also saw significant trading volumes.
