Airtel, Seplat, other stocks push market value higher by N417bn.

Nigeria’s stock market increased further on Wednesday by 1.73percent or N417billion, which helped push higher the market’s return year-to-date (YtD) to +6.35percent.

Airtel Africa Plc, Seplat Energy Plc, and Union Bank Nigeria Plc were among counters that contributed in strengthening the market’s northwards movement.
While looking ahead to the rest of the week, research analysts at Lagos-based United Capital Plc in their recent noted said they expect the recent rebound momentum to slow “as we approach a crucial bond auction which we expect to close at higher yields, possibly triggering negative investors’ reaction to the equities market later in the week.”

Read also:  Dangote Cement, other stocks drive N400bn gain on Nigerian Exchange

At the close of equities trading session on Wednesday January 19, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) increased further by 1.73percent, from preceding day’s 44,655.89 points to 45,430.14 points.

Also, the value of listed stocks on the Nigerian Exchange Limited rose from Tuesday’s low of N24.059trillion to N24.476trillion.

Airtel Africa Plc rallied most after its share price moved from N1,050.50 to N1,155.50, up by N105 or 10percent, followed by Seplat Energy Plc which rose from preceding day’s low of N690 to N720.10, up by N30.10 or 4.36percent, while Union Bank Nigeria Plc increased from N5.60 to N5.85, up by 25kobo or 4.46percent.

GTCO, Dangote Cement, FBN Holdings, Fidelity Bank and FCMB were most traded stocks on Wednesday at the Nigerian Exchange. In 4,218 deals, investors exchanged 252,938,074 units valued at N8.925billion.