NGX-ASI gains 2.36% in first trading week of September, turnover hits N210.3bn

Nigeria’s equities market began September on a positive note, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) gaining 2.36 percent in the first trading week of the month. The record increase was supported by stronger trading activity and improved market breadth.

The benchmark index closed the week ended Friday, September 4 at 246,992.44 points, up from 241,298.47 points the previous week, while equities market capitalisation rose 2.40 percent to N159.559 trillion. The performance lifted the market’s year-to-date (YtD) return to 58.72 percent.

Performance was positive across most market indices. The NGX Oil and Gas Index led with a 9.10 percent weekly gain, while the Commodity, Insurance, Premium and Banking indices rose 5.99 percent, 3.85 percent, 3.73 percent and 3.58 percent, respectively. The Industrial Goods Index and Sovereign Bond Index were the exceptions, declining 0.35 percent and 0.36 percent.

The first trading week of September therefore built on the market’s positive close to August, with the combination of higher turnover, stronger market breadth and gains across most indices pointing to sustained investor activity at the start of the new month.

Trading activity accelerated during the review week, with investors exchanging 4.360 billion shares worth N210.331 billion across 223,284 deals, compared with 2.507 billion shares valued at N123.223 billion in 173,561 deals in the preceding week. This represents a 70.7 percent increase in turnover value and a 73.9 percent rise in volume week-on-week.

The Financial Services sector…