Nigeria’s stock market closed last week on a positive note with oil and gas equities leading the charge, even as the naira weakened across both the official and parallel foreign exchange markets.
The oil and gas index on the Nigerian Exchange recorded the strongest performance, surging 9.43 percent, driven by strong investor demand for shares in Aradel Holdings and Oando. Industrial goods stocks followed with a 3.89 percent gain as buying interest strengthened in Premier Paints, Lafarge Africa, and Dangote Cement.
Consumer goods companies also recorded modest growth of 1.12 percent, supported by gains in PZ Cussons Nigeria and Cadbury Nigeria. Banking stocks rose 0.24 percent, with investors showing interest in Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Zenith Bank, and Guaranty Trust Holding Company.
The insurance sector was the only laggard, slipping 1.88 percent amid selling pressure in AXA Mansard, Universal Insurance and Cornerstone Insurance.
The News Chronicle understands that the overall market rally lifted the NGX All Share Index by 2.15 percent to close at 196,968.15 points, pushing total market capitalisation to about N126.43 trillion.
This represents a weekly gain of N2.67 trillion, bringing the market’s year-to-date return to more than 26 percent.
Despite the market advance, trading activity slowed with total volume and turnover declining during the week.
On the currency front, the naira depreciated to around N1,393.26 per dollar in the official market and about N1,391 per dollar in the parallel market, while Nigeria’s external reserves edged higher to $49.88 billion.
