Nigeria extended bullish posture on Wednesday with the market capitalisation increasing further by ₦214 billion on sustained bargain hunting of blue chips.
Specifically. the market capitalisation which opened at ₦20.446 trillion rose by ₦214 billion to close at ₦20.660 trillion supported by interests in BUA Cement.
Also, the All-Share Index appreciated by 402.14 points or 1.03 per cent to close at 39,512.31 from 39,110.17 achieved on Tuesday.
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Accordingly, month-to-date and year-to-date gain increased to 12.8 per cent and 47.2 per cent, respectively.
The uptrend was also driven by price appreciation in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; BUA Cement, International Breweries, Eterna, C & I Leasing and NEM Insurance.
Commenting, President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr Olatunde Amolegbe, described the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) emergence as the best-performing stock market as good news for investors.
‘This is certainly good news for investors in particular and our country in general.’
‘It is heartwarming, after suffering the hangover of the global financial crisis longer than most other countries.’
‘The most gratifying fact about this performance is that it is actually backed by fundamental performances of our quoted companies.’
‘The performance also underpins the need for improvement in liquidity flow to the market through various sources that we at the CIS have been advocating in the last few years.’
‘The reduction in the interest rate and fixed income yield had been a net positive for quoted companies that are now able to borrow cheaper to finance their operations as well as for market operators that can see renewed interest in the financial markets.’
‘The NSE’s performance is also an affirmation of our market’s increasing correlation with other global markets,’ Amolegbe said.
He expressed optimism that the trend would continue into the new year.
However, the CIS boss urged investors to speak to their certified stockbrokers before taking any investment decisions.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
