The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index saw a 0.51 percent increase to reach 66,490.34 points from 66,151.38 points on the previous day, surpassing the highest value of 66,371.20 points reached on March 5, 2008.
This positive performance was linked to a surge in banking stocks, as investors capitalized on the recent strong earnings posted by banks, resulting in market capitalization rising by 0.51 percent to close at N39.69 trillion from N36.21 trillion. Investors gained N510 billion during the day.
Fast price rise sparks concerns and pushes for more new stocks
David Adonri, Vice Chairman of Highcap Securities, noted that the market’s deeper and more resilient nature was implied by this development.
However, the rapid increase in stock prices raises questions about the equities market’s capacity to absorb such gains.
As momentum continues to build in the secondary market, there is a growing call for the primary market to become more active with new equity offerings.
This would help alleviate pressure from the secondary market and mobilize equity capital for strategic sectors such as metallurgy, tools and machinery manufacturing, the chemical industry, electric power, clean energy, and technical education.
Regarding sector performance, the banking sector saw the most significant daily gain, rising by 1.63 percent, followed by the consumer goods sector with a 0.99 percent increase.
The industrial goods sector experienced a slight uptick of 0.21 percent. However, the oil/gas sector declined by 0.09 percent, while the insurance sector recorded a notable drop of 1.56 percent, which can be attributed to investors reallocating their investments.
