Bulls resurface on Nigeria bourse as Index up 0.33%

The bulls resurfaced in the domestic bourse on Thursday, halting a six-day losing streak on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as the All-Share Index (ASI) inched higher by 0.33 per cent to 41,633.79 points, following demands across major sectors.

Accordingly, the Year-to-Date gain increased (albeit marginally) to 8.87 per cent, while the Month-to-Date loss moderated to 3.92 per cent.

All sector indices closed in the green, led by the Insurance (+1.61%) index, followed by the Oil & Gas (+0.57%), Banking (+0.53%), Industrial Goods (+0.46%), and Consumer Goods (+0.46%) indices. That was driven by demands for MANSARD (+2.00%), MOBIL (+4.37%), GUARANTY (+0.67%), WAPCO (+0.96%), and CADBURY shares.

Market breadth turned positive for the first time since March 9th, with 29 gainers and 27 losers, led by GLAXOSMITH (+10.20%) and MULTIVERSE (-8.70%). Total volume and value of trades increased by 10.92% and 30.20% to 542.35 million units and NGN7.35 billion, respectively, with a total of 5,039 deals.

Analysts are of the view that equities market may remain positive, as strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals suggest legroom for gains exist; more so, as investors are likely to hunt bargains, following the softening of stocks prices.