Julius Berger, Cutix, others drive NGX positive start to new week

The shares of Julius Berger Plc led other major advancers like Cutix Plc, MC Nichols Plc, and Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc that caused NGX All Share Index (ASI) to rise by 0.31percent on Monday. The local bourse had last week extended its bearish run as the NGX All Share Index (ASI) declined by 2.51 percent wee-on-week (w/w).

Leading the league of major gainers on Monday, Julius Berger share price increased from N132.90 to N146.10, rising by N13.20 or 9.93 percent. Another major advancer Cutix moved from N3.55 to N3.90, adding 35kobo or 9.86 percent.

“Buy-side signals remain positive as investors rotate back into recently corrected names. The market bias is risk-on, driven by supportive fundamentals,” Vetiva research analysts said.

Also, Veritas Kapital increased from N1.98 to N2.17, up by 19kobo or 9.60percent. Regency Assurance share price increased from N1.34 to N1.47, adding 13kobo or 9.70 percent, while MC Nichols advanced from N3.20 to N3.50, up 30kobo or 9.37 percent.

“This week, we will maintain our current portfolio positioning across board while monitoring investors’ sentiment, particularly in light of the upcoming H1’25 banking sector earnings releases.

“As always, any midweek portfolio adjustments will be communicated through the Daily Market Summary to ensure our strategy remains responsive and well aligned with evolving market conditions,” CardinalStone Research analysts said in their recent Model Equity Portfolio.

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The NGX All Share Index and equities market capitalisation increased to 141,439.77 points and N89.493 trillion. FCMB, Veritas Capital, Universal Insurance, AIICO, and GTCO were actively traded stocks as investors in 33,342 deals exchanged 591,245,668 shares valued at N11.658billion.

“We expect the profit taking pressure to persist this week, alongside investor speculation in penny stocks. However, a gradual shift towards fundamentally sound stocks is anticipated through bargain hunting, particularly in industrial, banking and insurance heavyweights,” Coronation Research analysts said.

The market’s return year-to-date (YtD) increased to 37.41 percent.

“In Nigeria, we have positive expectations that financial services sector (banking, insurance and other non-banking) may remain the toast of investors. Expectations of strong earnings from manufacturing sector may continue to drive positive sentiment in the broader market,” United Capital research analysts said.

“In Nigeria, we have positive expectations that financial services sector (banking, insurance and other non-banking) may remain the toast of investors. Expectations of strong earnings from manufacturing sector may continue to drive positive sentiment in the broader market,” Futureview analysts said.