The Nigerian stock market bounced back on Tuesday after two days of losses, with investors adding about N719 billion to market value as renewed demand for major stocks lifted trading. The recovery pushed the NGX All Share Index above the 242,000 point mark, driven largely by gains in FirstHoldCo and MTN Nigeria.
The News Chronicle reports that strong buying interest returned to banking and large capitalization stocks after Monday’s broad market decline. FirstHoldCo emerged as the biggest attraction, climbing almost 10 percent, while MTN Nigeria and Stanbic IBTC also recorded notable gains, helping to restore investor confidence.
Improved trade activity greatly increased the value of transactions to N53.34 billion, and the number of shares traded to 634.78 million, thereby highlighting institutional investors’ increased engagement despite a decrease in the number of deals.
While insurance stocks also ended higher, the banking industry saw the best performance of the day. But consumer goods and oil and gas stocks finished the day slightly lower.
Market watchers think the recovery points to fresh portfolio repositioning among consumers. Though profit-taking in newly appreciated companies might slow the pace of further increases, they also anticipate that prudent optimism will persist over the next few days.
