Stock market up 0.22% on bargain activities

Activities of bargain hunters on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) drove the market higher by 0.22 percent at the close of trading session on Wednesday.

After Tuesday’s negative close, investors saw re-entry opportunities to buy some of low-priced but valuable stocks in mixed trading sessions.

Investment research analysts at Lagos-based Futureview had earlier this week expected a mixed performance in the equities market, “driven by selective positioning in fundamentally strong stocks with recent price pullbacks, while ongoing bank rights issues serve as a positive catalyst”.

Stocks like John Holt, Eunisell Interlinked, and University Press pushed the market higher after previous day’s negative close.

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John Holt rose from N5.81 to N6.39, adding 58 kobo or 9.98 percent. Eunisell moved up from N9.92 to N10.90, adding 98 kobo or 9.88 percent, University Press rose from N3.30 to N3.60, adding 30kobo or 9.09 percent.

At the close of trading on Wednesday, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation increased from preceding day’s lows of 97,260.39 points and N58.935trillion respectively to 97,477.81 points and N59.071 trillion.

The market recorded 30 gainers as against 19 losers. The year-to-date (YtD) return stood higher at +30.36 percent.

Access Holdings, UBA, Fidelity Bank, United Capital and GTCO were actively traded stocks on Wednesday.

While they didn’t rule out the possibility of profit-taking actions this week, Meristem research analysts said, “We anticipate the market to close on a positive note driven by increased bargain hunting activity, with a reduced sell bias as investors reposition on sound tickers now trading at attractive levels”.