Nigeria’s equity capitalisation gains N96b, as naira weakens to N426.25

Nigeria’s Equity Market closed on a positive note on Monday with the index increasing by 0.34 per cent while the capitalisation gained N96 billion.

The upward trend in the market was driven by Fidelity Bank Plc, Julius Berger and Union Bank Plc, which was recently taken over by its new owners, Titan Trust Bank (TTB).

The All Share Index (ASI) increased by 0.34 per cent to close at 53.086.46 basic points compared with 52.908.24 points the previous day. It also increased by 0.34 per cent to close at 53.908.24 points the previous trading day. The market capitalisation of equities listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) increased to N28.619 trillion from N28.523 trillion, as of the close of trading the previous day.

The total volume traded closed with an exchange of 755.624 million units valued at N8.90 billion traded in 4,217 deals, while the market breadth was positive with 19 gainers as against 13 losers.

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Also, the NGX 30 index increased by 0.39 per cent to close at 2.929.99 points as against 1.922.43 points the previous day. Besides, market turnover closed with a traded volume of 669.50 million units, just as Fidelity Bank and Julius Berger were the key gainers, while Unilever and Ecobank Nigeria Limited are key losers.

Specifically, the shares of Fidelity Bank gained 3.64 per cent, Union Bank gained 2.67 per cent, Julius Berger gained, while Union Bank gained 2.40 per cent. First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Holding shares rose by 2.27 per cent, MTN Nigeria shares rose to 1.56 per cent. Conversely, while the shares of Unilever declined by 4.01 per cent and Ecobank fell by 1.27 per cent.

On the money market, interbank lending rate rose with the overnight (O/N) rate increasing by 0.08 per cent compared with the 7.08 per cent and the 7.00 per cent it closed with the previous day. Also, the Open Repo (OPR) decreased by 0.33 per cent to close at 6.33 per cent compared with the previous day, which closed at 6.63 per cent.

At the Import and Export (I&E) window, the naira depreciated by 0.12 per cent as the dollar was quoted at N420.25 as against the previous day, when it closed at N419.75.