Nigerian Stock Exchange Gains N113bn

• Nigerian Stock Exchange Gains N113bn

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rallied on Monday after losing N258 billion last week.

All-Share Index that gauged the performance of NSE gained 0.95 per cent to 32,129.94 basis points on Monday, up from 31,827.24 recorded on Friday.

The year-to-date return surged slightly to 2.2 per cent.

The market capitalization of listed equities climbed From N11.869 trillion on Friday to N11.982 trillion on Monday. Representing N112.9 billion increase.

Activity level that rose last week dropped as 228.484 million shares worth N2.615 billion were exchanged in 3,544 deals, compared to the 341.954 million shares valued at N3.752 billion that exchanged hands in 4,513 deals on Friday.

The banking sector emerged the biggest gainer on Monday after a 4.56 per cent decline on Thursday. The sector gained 2.66 per cent on Monday as a result of gains recorded by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said the weak market sentiment was as a result of sell-offs triggered by foreign portfolio investors.

This, they said is preventing buying opportunities in stocks with good fundamentals.

“Nonetheless, we expect a bearish close tomorrow (today) as investor sentiment remains weak,” they added.