The Nigerian stock market began the year on a positive note as market capitalisation increased by ₦458.4 billion to settle at ₦21.5 trillion while the Year to Date return rose to 2.2 per cent.
The benchmark index advanced 218 basis points (bps) to settle at 41,147.39 points, buoyed by gains in BUA Cement (+9.9 per cent), Guaranty (+3.6 per cent) and WAPCO (+9.0 per cent).
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Activity level however plunged as volume and value traded dropped 70.2 per cent and 86.0 per cent to 211.9m units and ₦1.4bn respectively.
The most traded stocks by volume were AIICO (87.5m units), FCMB (19.7m units) and Transcorp (12.8m units) while Zenith (₦225.7m), WAPCO (₦223.0m) and Guaranty (₦191.1m) led by value.
Sector performance was upbeat as 5 of 6 indices under review gained, but the AFR-ICT index remained unchanged.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth strengthened to 15.5x from the 0.7x recorded previously as 31 stocks advanced against 2 decliners.
Sovrenin (+10.0 per cent), Transcorp (+10.0 per cent) and Honeyflour (+10.0 per cent) were the best performing tickers while FCMB (-6.0 per cent) and Caverton (-3.4 per cent) were the only losers.
Analysts anticipate a sustained bullish performance in the next trading session.
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