Bullish rally persists as NSE Index up 1.53% Wednesday

Gains persisted on the domestic bourse for the third consecutive session, with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 1.53 per cent to 38,435.20 points, as investors continued hunting bargains across major sectors.

Year-to-Date and Month-to-Date returns turned positive, closing at 0.50% and 0.87%, respectively.

All sectoral indices closed positive, with the Industrial Goods (+4.16%) index posting the largest gain, owing to sturdy interests in WAPCO (+9.35%) shares. The Consumer Goods (+2.51%), Banking (+1.15%), Insurance (+0.99%), and Oil & Gas (+0.63%) indices followed suit, following demands for FLOURMILL (+5.78%), FIDELITYBK (+9.91%), AIICO (+4.92%), and FO (+4.23%) shares, respectively.

Market breadth remained positive, with 41 gainers and 16 losers, led by FIDELITYBK (+9.91%) and GUINEAINS (-5.00%) respectively. Total volume and value of trades increased by 15.73% and 11.91%, to 393.12 million units and NGN6.67 billion, respectively, exchanged in 5,285 deals.

Gains are likely to extend in the equities market, on the back of attractive prices of value stocks, and still-positive macroeconomic fundamentals. Analysts at Cordros Capital said.