NGX crosses N74 trillion in market capitalisation as MTN Nigeria and 42 others fuel bullish sentiment with rising volumes and sector-wide gains

The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) surged beyond the N74 trillion threshold on Thursday, driven by investor demand for MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and 42 other gainers.

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MTN Nigeria rose by 1.69 per cent to close at N355.90 per share, pushing the market capitalisation to N74.259 trillion—an increase of N677.7 billion from the previous day’s value of N73.681 trillion.

The NGX All-Share Index climbed by 1,074.26 basis points, or 0.92 per cent, to end the session at 117,861.13 points. This performance lifted the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns to 5.5 per cent and 14.5 per cent, respectively.

Sectoral performance was robust across key indices:

• Banking Index increased by 2.9 per cent
• Insurance Index gained 1.5 per cent
• Consumer Goods Index rose 1 per cent
• Oil & Gas Index advanced 0.2 per cent
• Industrial Goods Index also climbed 0.2 per cent

Market breadth was positive, with 43 stocks appreciating compared to 20 decliners. Ikeja Hotel led the gainers with a 10 per cent rise to N15.40 per share.

It was followed by Beta Glass, up 9.98 per cent to N276.00, and Legend Internet, which rose 9.92 per cent to close at N7.20.

We anticipate continued momentum on the bourse, buoyed by investor optimism and limited paper supply in the fixed income segment.

Other major gainers included University Press (+9.85% to N6.02) and Eterna (+9.82% to N42.50). On the losing side, Guinea Insurance shed 9.21 per cent to close at 69 kobo.

Haldane McCall lost 5.88 per cent to close at N4.00, followed by C\&I Leasing (-5.84%), McNichols (-5.58%), and Fidson Healthcare (-4.65%).

Trading activity also saw a boost, with volume rising 39.66 per cent to 893.97 million units, worth N22.03 billion across 17,257 deals. Champion Breweries led in volume with 332.30 million shares traded at a value of N2.27 billion.

Other notable trades included:

• GTCO: 62.66 million shares worth N5.00 billion
• PZ Cussons: 46.59 million shares valued at N1.48 billion
• Zenith Bank: 37.55 million shares worth N1.89 billion
• Access Holdings: 35.99 million shares worth N787.11 million

“We anticipate continued momentum on the bourse, buoyed by investor optimism and limited paper supply in the fixed income segment,” said analysts at Afrinvest Limited.

Also read: Nigerian Banks post huge profit gains despite customer complaints, economic challenges

The positive market sentiment is attributed to the reaction of Deposit Money Banks to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s circular on the rollback of forbearance measures and a scarcity of alternative investment options.