The market capitalisation of equities trading on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Group Limited, NGX crossed the N40tn mark at the close of midweek sales on the back of increased activity in banking stocks.
Consequently, the benchmark index of the exchange, the All-Share Index, ASI crossed 73,000 basis points, days after hitting 72,000 points.
At the end of business on Wednesday, the market cap and the ASI closed trading at N40.164tn and 73,397.71 absolute points, representing a 1.28 percent increase.
The major drivers of the day’s market were the stocks of GTCO, AccessCorp, Transcorp, FCMB and United Bank for Africa.
Thus, the value of trade on Wednesday jumped by 84.62 percent to close at N12.829bn. Also, the volume of traded units also increased by 34.88 percent to 554.64 million units of shares that exchanged hands in 7,910 deals.
This milestone came 10 months after the market cap hit N30tn on the back of the interest of domestic investors.
Earlier on February 27, the first trading day after the presidential polls, the market crossed the N30tn market.
Capital market stakeholders expressed optimism about the capability of the market to do even more.
Reacting to the historic crossing, the Managing Director of Arthur Stevens Asset Management Limited, Tunde Amolegbe, said that the market was betting on the reforms done by the current administration.
He said; “The stock market is a forward-pricing market, meaning that it tends to adjust for consequences of policy ahead of their impact being felt on the ground.
“So, while the populace is feeling the immediate negative impact of various policies, the market is betting that the result of those same policies will be positive for the economy in the medium to long run which is why we are seeing the bullish sentiments we’ve witnessed so far. We must also recognise that the market can correct sharply if this does not turn out to be the case.”
