Stock market bullish with N168bn gain

The domestic equities market started the last trading week of the year on a bullish note, buoyed by strong demand for BUA Cement  (+6.7 per cent ), Zenith (+2%) and Access (+4.1%).

Market capitalisation advanced ₦167.6 billion to settle at ₦20.4 trillion while year to date   return increased to 45.7%.

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The All-Share Index went up 0.8% to close at 39,110.17 points.  Activity level was mixed as volume traded rose 85.4% to 722.6 million units while value traded dipped 45% to ₦4.4bn.

The most traded stocks by volume were AIICO (273.1m units), OANDO (81.4m units) and FBNH (41.1m units) while Dangote Cement (₦993.2m), Zenith (₦742m) and Access (₦353.3m) led the value table.

Performance across the six sectors under our coverage was mixed as 2 sectors gained, 3 lost while the AFR-ICT indicator closed flat.

Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth fell to 0.9x from the 2.6x recorded previously as 18 stocks gained against 20 losers.

JAIZ Bank (+10%), NEM (+9.%) and LASACO (+8.8%) were the best-performing tickers while NCR (-9.7%), FTN COCOA (-9%), and TRANSEXPR (-8.9%) led the losers.

Commenting, an analyst at Afrinvest, a capital market firm, said: “We anticipate the bullish run would remain following sustained buying interest in the local bourse.”