Transcorp, Fidelity and Aradel sustain the stock market momentum

• The Nigerian stock exchange momentum sustained its bullish momentum for the fourth consecutive session, as the NGX All Share Index (ASI) rose by 0.23%, to close at 142,710.48 points. As a result, the year-to-date return inched up to 38.65% from the 38.33% recorded in the previous session. Market capitalisation also gained N465.88bn, settling at N90.58trn.
• The bullish market performance was driven by buying interest in TRANSCORP (+8.48%), FIDELITYBK (+5.26%), ARADEL (+9.82%) outweighing profit taking recorded across select banking stocks such as UBA (-2.70%), ACCESSCORP (-0.19%), ZENITHBANK (-0.86%), and GTCO (-0.11%).
• Sectoral performance was broadly mixed, with gains in the Oil & Gas (+3.14%), Industrial Goods (+1.48%), and Banking (+0.34%) indices. Conversely, the Insurance (-3.77%), and Consumer Goods (-0.77%) closed in the red.
• Market activity improved considerably as the transaction volume and value surged by 223.09% and 156.72%, respectively. FIDELITYBK (+5.26%) dominated trading session with 793.04mn volume of transactions, valued at N15.88bn worth of trades.
• Market breadth closed negative at 0.94x, indicating more decliners than advancers. UPDC (+9.98%) led the twenty-eight (28) gainers, while UNIONDICON (-10.00%) topped the thirty-one (31) laggards, with remaining stocks closing flat. 

NASD Summary

• The NASD OTC Securities Index (NSI) and market capitalisation declined by 2.13%, closing at 3,469.94 points and N2.08trn, respectively.
• However, market activity was mixed, as transaction volume declined 76.10% and value surged by 587.71%.
• SDUBNPROP (+2.27%) topped the market gainers, while SD11PLC (-10.84%) led the decliners in today’s session.