NGX ASI up 0.8% as oil, banking shares drive intraday gain

Today, the local bourse dosed on an upbeat note as gains in TRANSCOH, GTCO and NB pushed the NGX-ASI up 0.8% to 101,248.02 points. Consequently, YTD return rose to 35.4% (previously: 34.4%), while market capitalisation advanced 0.8% to N61.4 trillion. Likewise, activity level strengthened as volume and value traded rose 5.6% and 185.9% to 411.4m units and Positive Sector Performance Performance across sectors was bullish as five indices gained, while the Industrial
Goods index fell 0.6% owing to profit-taking on BUACEMENT and JOHNHOLT. Leading the gainers, the Insurance index rose 3.8% due to CUSTODIA. Traling raying inter son OTCO, FENH, NB and NESTLE pushed the Banking and Consumer Goods indices up 0.7% apiece. Similarly, the Oil & Gas and AFR-ICT indices gained 0.3% and 0.1% due to upbeat demand on MRSOIL, ETERNA, MTNN and CHAMS (+2.6%). Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, improved to 0.51x (previously: 0.38x) as 47 stocks advanced, 17 declined while 69 closed flat. We expect the bullish performance to be sustained tomorrow, driven by year-end enthusiasm and portfolio rebalancing.
Aradel Holdings Plc, and some banking names are driving positive momentum on the Nigerian Exchange trading platform during early trading hours on Thursday. Investors are hunting for oil stock and Aradel Holdings has become an attractive counter amidst sustained bullish trend in the local bourse. The significant buying interest in Aradel in particular followed announcement that that the Minister of Petroleum Resources has granted his consent to the sale of The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to Renaissance Africa Energy Limited. For Aradel, as a shareholder in Renaissance, this approval marks a significant step forward from the announcement of the Sale and Purchase Agreements in January 2024, the company said in a statement.
At mid-day, the NGX All Share Index witnessed a positive trajectory, displaying an uptick of 0.42%, Alpha Morgan Capital Limited said in an emailed note. Stockbrokers attributed the bullish trend to buying interest of investors in some mid to high capitalized stocks. ARADEL Holdings Plc has already gained 10.00% – the maximum allowable for the day in the equities market. FBNH has seen 1.32% price uptick, ZENITHBANK is up by 0.45% and UBA has gained 0.15% – among other early risers.