BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
The Lagos bourse rebounded after Tuesday’s pullback as the benchmark Index gained 0.55 percent to close at 51,729.87 points.
Gains in index heavyweight, BUA Cement Plc (+3.59%) alongside Tier-1 banking names, Zenith Bank Plc (+0.21%), GTCO (+1.48%) and FBN Holdings Plc (+0.45%) pushed the broader index into positive territory. Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 0.93 percent, while market capitalization gained N153.24 billion to close at N28.18 trillion.
Analysis of today’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session with the value of transactions down by 0.55 percent. A total of 281.94 million shares valued at N8.16 billion were exchanged in 3,679 deals. FBN Holding (+0.45%) led the volume chart with 108.93 million units traded while BUA Cement Plc (+3.59%) led the value chart in deals worth N4.07 billion.
Market breadth closed positive at a 2.33-to-1 ratio with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones. CHAMPION (+9.45%) led twenty (20) others on the gainer’s table, while WAPIC (-6.67%) topped eight (8) others on the laggard’s log.
There are indications that investors will enjoy favourable returns in the market in the ongoing financial, given that the market ended on a positive note in 2022.
It would be recalled that the equities market witnessed a bullish recovery in Q4 2022 compared to Q3, 2022. The All-Share Index and market capitalization have both increased significantly from 49,024.16 and N26.45 trillion as of September 30, 2022, to 51,251.06 and N27.920 trillion respectively as of Dec 30, 2022. The YTD (Year-to-Date) ASI as of Dec 30, 2022, was 51,251.06, bringing it to a 19.98 percent rise. The market rode on the positive performance reports from the quoted companies for the 3rd quarter of the year and the prospect of strong dividend payment at the end of the financial year.
