Activity chart of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the last trading session of the month, Friday January 29, showed Zenith Bank atop Most-Traded stocks with a total value of N1.2 trillion and transaction volume of 44,956,083 shares.
It was followed by FBN Holdings and Union Bank of Nigeria which recorded transaction values of N442.7 billion and N441.9 billion in volumes of 58,324,991 and 76,153,652 shares respectively.
MTN Nigeria topped the gainers table with 3.43 per cent as its shares closed at N181 as against N175 opening figure.
Similarly, Stanbic IBTC led the losers pack with a drop of -3.43 per cent in its share price to N45 from N46.6 , a loss of N1.6.
Data by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) shows that market turnover closed positive as volume moved up by +2.16 per cent as against +2.16 per cent uptick recorded in the previous session.
Overall, a total transaction value of N6.59 trillion was recorded after the day’s trading session in 66,876,332.00 volumes of 6,663.00 deals.
Investors gained N1.12 trillion Naira, Year-to-Date (YTD) in a total of 20 trading days in January, as market capitalization closed at N22.18 trillion as against N21.05 trillion as trading resumed for the year on January 4. NSE-ASI inched 5.31 per cent to close the month positive at 42,412.66 from 40,270.72 basis points. Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stand at +5.32 per cent.
After weeks of positive outlook, Nigerian bourse ended higher amid high buying pressures noticed in NSE30 stocks such as GTBank and MTN Nigeria as the earning season approaches.
Institutional investors, especially the Pension Fund Managers, drove market liquidity to a higher level as they increased their stakes on viable stock brands, boosting domestic participation in the equity market.
Analysts are of the opinion that the recent decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to hold rates, accounted to a large extent to the bullish trajectory that has played in the market for some time.
On the money market space,data by FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that Naira strengthened against the U.S dollar at the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market on Friday.
The local currency closed at N394.13 at the Friday trading session, representing N0.2 or 0.05 per cent gain from N394.33, the rate at which it closed at the previous session.
The FMDQ Securities Exchange website showed that the appreciation of the Naira happened as turnover rose by 35.09per cent, with $24.39 million recorded on Friday as against the $37.58 million posted on Thursday – the previous trading day.
On the spot market (I&E window) naira witnessed an intraday high of N390.00 and a low of N415.95 before closing at N394.13.
However, data posted on abokiFX.com, which collates parallel market rates in Lagos, showed the local currency closed at N480 to a dollar, suggesting that naira depreciated at the unofficial market by N2 or 0.42 per cent,
This is weaker than N478 – the rate at which the local currency exchanged hands with the dollar in the previous session .
This leaves a spread of N85.87 between the unofficial market and the I&E window exchange rates – a 21.78 per cent gap, while the CBN’s official rate of N379 per dollar remained unchanged on Friday, January 29.
