Stock market sees first gain in August

Nigeria’s equities market rose by 0.12 percent or N41 billion on Wednesday, its first positive close this week/month.

The market saw mild sell-side activity as investors cherry-picked attractive counters like Nascon, Dangote Sugar Refinery, and Skyway Aviation Handling Company.

The positive close on August 2 pushed the record return year-to-date (YtD) to +25.40percent.

Transcorp, FBN Holdings, ETI, Access Corporation and Chams were actively traded stocks as investors in 6,251 deals exchanging 330,784,391 shares valued at N4.269 billion.

At the close of trading on Wednesday, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index and equities market capitalisation increased from 64,192.20 points and N34.932trillion to 64,267.36 points and N34.973trillion.

Nascon rallied most, from N32.50 to N35.75, up by N3.25 or 10 percent, Dangote Sugar Refinery rose from N29.70 to N32.65, adding N2.95 or 9.93percent, while Skyway Aviation Handling Company increased from N25.60 to N28.15, adding N2.55 or 9.96percent.

The market had expected to start this month on a bearish note as investors continued to trade cautiously in the market.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with over 18 years journalism experience writing on banking, finance and capital markets. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA).