Aradel, MTN Drive N1.04 trn gain as NGX equities market, NASD open week upbeat

Highly priced Aradel, MTN, and mid-priced International Breweries gains in share prices propelled buoyant trades on the NGX equities market platform, opening the week bullish.

Also, the NASD closed positive on Monday as investors gun for value stocks.

The Nigerian equities market opened the week on a positive note as the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 0.29% to close at 247,699.78 points, while the market capitalisation advanced by N1.04trn (0.65%) to close at N160.60trn.

This brought the year-to-date return to 59.18% from 58.72% in the previous week.

The positive sentiment was driven by gains in ARADEL (+5.38%), MTNN (+2.45%), and INTBREW (+3.02%), which offset losses recorded in CHAMPION (-8.79%), WAPIC (-7.08%), and JAIZBANK (-6.36%).

Trading activity weakened during the session, with total volume traded declining by 81.81% to 407.85mn units, while transaction value declined by 62.88% to N27.25bn. ACCESSCORP (-0.83%) led the volume chart with 40.04mn units, while ARADEL (+5.38%) led the value chart, with trades worth N7.59bn

Market breadth was negative at 0.25x, reflecting a higher number of losers relative to gainers, as forty-four (44) stocks declined against eleven (11) advancers. CAVERTON (-10.00%) emerged as the session’s top decliner, while ZICHIS (+9.97%) led the gainers’ chart.

NASD Summary

Also, the NASD OTC market opened the week on a positive note, as the NASD Security Index (NSI) appreciated by 1.68% to 4,488.00 points.