Wednesday, bullish sentiments returned to the local bourse, snapping two consecutive sessions of loss this week as the benchmark index eked out a 0.05% gain to close at 47,364.46 points. Buying interest in MTNN (+0.24%) was the primary driver of the session’s gain. In addition, gains in FBNH (+1.29%), STANBIC (+0.87%) and UBA (+0.59%) offset losses in ZENITHBANK (-1.49%), ACCESS (-0.95%) and GTCO (-0.19%) to keep the market above water. As a result, the ASI’s year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 10.88%, while the market capitalisation gained ₦12.72bn to close at ₦25.53trn.
Analysis of today’s market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions advancing by 2.43%. A total of 145.83m shares valued at ₦2.54bn were exchanged in 4,113 deals. UBA (+0.59%), for the second consecutive session, led the volume chart with 14.76m units traded, while MTNN (+0.24%) led the value chart in deals worth ₦458.93m.
Market breadth closed positive at a 1.13-to-1 ratio, with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones. NPFMCRFBK (+10.00%) led seventeen (17) others on the leader’s log, while ROYALEX (-9.73%) topped fifteen (15) others on the laggard’s table.
