Equities market extend gains with N59bn

The local bourse extended gains for the third consecutive trading session as a result of price appreciation in Guaranty (+4.2percent), WAPCO (+6.8%), and UBN (+5.3%).

This pushed market capitalisation by N59.0bn to close at  N20.5tn even as the All-Share index rose 29bps to close at 39,128.34 points while year-to-date loss improved to -2.8%.

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Trading activity declined as volume and value traded fell 29.4% and 38.5% respectively to 239.2m units and N1.7bn.

The most traded stocks by volume were Access (28.2m units), Fidelity (17.2m units), and Mbenefit (16.8m units) while Guaranty (N423.1bn), Zenith (N276.7m), and Access (N213.2m) led by value.

Across sectors under our coverage, performance was mixed as 3 of the 6 indicators closed in the green.

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth weakened to 1.0x from the 2.0x recorded in the previous session as 22 stocks advanced against 21 decliners.

Analyst at Afrinvest said investors should expect the market to sustain its positive momentum.