NGX market index sees intraday rally, momentum slows

Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All Share Index, or market index, records moderate intraday gains as monster rallies appear to have started to fade. The local stock market has seen a basis point uptrend during early trading hours on Tuesday. The much lower intraday gain signals a potential pullout, and a stock market correction is now in sight. The NGX stock market has been on fire for about one month, reaching its all-time highs across key performance indicators, matching energy with global market performances. At midday, the NGX All Share Index witnessed a marginal gain of 0.01%, Alpha Morgan Limited told investors in an emailed note, reflecting a bullish market sentiment.
Stockbrokers said this uptick was driven by investor interest in some mid to high capitalized stocks. Top gainers include JBERGER, UCAP, VFDGROUP, ETI, NB, UBA, among others. The equities market sustained its positive momentum this week, as the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 0.12%, closing at 146,055.16 points. As a result, the year-to-date (YTD) return inched up to 41.90%, from the 41.73% in the prior session. Market capitalisation also gained 0.12%, settling at N92.40trn, reflecting of sustained positive sentiment across key sectors.  Positive sentiment was largely driven by gains in in select industrial goods and financial services stocks, namely, WAPCO, JBERGER, UBA, MANSARD, which outweighed selling pressure in UNILEVER, GTCO, and DANGSUGAR.  Market activity was mixed, with trade volume down 39.63% while value of transaction rose 25.03%. LASACO dominated the volume chart with 107.2mn units exchanged, whereas GTCO led the value board, posting N2.61bn worth of trades. Market breadth closed positive at 1.63x, indicating a broader advance with 49 gainers against 30 decliners. ABCTRANS topped the gainers’ chart, while JULI led the losers’ list.