Nigerian equities market, Wednesday, continued on steroids, reaching a new high, as the low- interest- rate environment seen in the fixed income space, continues to push investors towards stocks.
The All-share index of the stock market was up by 1.90 percent, closing at 33,268.36 points, from 32,647.10, its highest point since September 11, 2018, according to data tracked by Businessday.
The gaining streak that persisted in the market, Wednesday, was on the back of gains in MTN Nigeria (+2.4%), Nigerian Breweries (+ 9.5%) and BUA Cement (+2.4%).
Consequently, investors gained ₦324.6bn as market capitalisation rose to ₦17.4tn while YTD return improved to 23.9 percent
READ ALSO: Nigeria to sign additional bilateral air services agreement in 2021
Meanwhile, activity level surged as volume and value traded increased by 48.3 percent and 17.0 percent to 858.2m units and N9.1bn respectively.
The most traded stocks by volume were FBNH ( 145.1m units), Transcorp (126.3m units) and Zenith Bank ( 60.8m units) while Zenith Bank(n1.5bn), GTB (N1.2bn) and Dangote Cement (N1.1bn) led by value.
Performance remained positive for all the 6 indices, including Banking, Oil & Gas, Consumer goods and Industrial Goods.
The stock market has continued to be a preferred destination for investible funds since October after a raft of Central Bank policy barred non-bank domestic investors from investing in its short term OMO bills.
The move which was aimed at improving domestic credit in an economy reeling from the impact of the 2016 recession, sparked excess liquidity in other asset classes particularly those in the fixed income space.
Yields on one year Treasury bills have fallen to 0.98 percent from the high of 14 percent some two years ago, and with commodity prices reaching a 30-month high of 13.71 percent in September, real yields which have largely been negative since the start of the year, have fallen further to -12.73 percent.
Some N167.8 billion worth of treasury bills are expected to hit the market today, to be auctioned at the primary market by the Central Bank, spread across 91-, 182- and 364- Day tenors
With yields in the fixed income space expected to remain pressured and third-quarter numbers of most blue-chip companies coming out impressive, analysts see more positive outings for stocks, particularly from local investors.
