… Sanwo-Olu says Lagos to fund infrastructure projects through NGX’s capital raising***
The domestic stock market sustained an upward trend on Thursday with a growth of N69 billion.
Accordingly, the market capitalisation which opened at N25.411 trillion inched higher by N69 billion to close at N25.480 trillion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index rose by 129.11 points or 0.27 per cent to close at 47,286.34 against 47,157.23 on Wednesday.
Also read: Nigerian stock market rebounds by N54bn
Consequently, the month-to-date and year-to-date gains increased to 1.4 per cent and +10.7 per cent, respectively.
The gain was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are: Total Nigeria, Guinness, Four Mills, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup) and FBN Holdings (FBNH).
Analysts at Afrinvest Ltd. said, “In the final trading session for the week, we anticipate an extended positive performance on improved investor sentiment.”
The market closed positive with 30 gainers relative to nine losers.
Guinness dominated the gainers’ chart with the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N55 per share.
TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria, formerly (Total Nigeria), followed with a gain of 9.92 per cent to close at N264.90, while UACN Property Development Company was up by 9.90 per cent to close at N1.11 per share.
R.T. Briscoe Nigeria rose by 9.09 per cent to close at 36k, while University Press appreciated by 8.16 per cent to close at N2.65 per share.
On the other hand, Veritas Kapital Assurance led the losers’ chart by 4.35 per cent to close at 22k per share.
Union Bank of Nigeria followed with a loss of 3.20 per cent to close at N6.05, while Ikeja Hotel declined by 2.74 per cent to close at N1.42 per share.
Regency Alliance Insurance lost 2.50 per cent to close at 39k, while FCMB Group depreciated by 2.34 per cent to close at N2.92 per share.
The total volume of trades decreased by 33.4 per cent to 198.115 million units, valued at N3.405 billion exchanged in 4,294 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Chams Plc topped the activity chart with 16.738 million shares valued at N3.515 million.
Transcorp followed with 15.38 million shares worth N17.82 million, while Access Bank traded 14.29 million shares valued at N149.46 million.
United Bank for Africa traded 12.54 million shares valued at N109.82 million, while Flour Mills transacted 12.15 million shares worth N389.37 million.
In the meantime, the Lagos State, Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that the state will explore capital raising through Nigerian Exchange Ltd (NGX) to fund infrastructure projects through equities, Green, Sukuk, and Blue Bonds.
Sanwo-Olu made the remarks at the courtesy visit of the board and management of NGX led by the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Temi Popoola, to the Governor’s Office on Thursday.
He expressed confidence in the opportunities available in the capital market and indicated an interest in deepening synergies between the state and the NGX.
Popoola said: “At NGX, we are eager to reaffirm our commitment to collaborating with the Lagos State Government on its infrastructure development drive through our robust platform available to fund strategic objectives.
“This is particularly important to us given the critical position Lagos state occupies as the Centre of Excellence and the major economic hub in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.
“NGX has always been a strong collaborator through which the state accesses long-term developmental funding from the capital market evidenced by the N224.54 billion Lagos State Bonds listed on NGX, cumulatively the largest subnational bond listed on the NGX platform.
“We, therefore, look forward to exploring more opportunities especially in infrastructure financing, environmental and climate bonds, and capacity building,” Popoola said.
According to him, capital market stakeholders will continue to look forward to outcomes from the series of strategic engagements the NGX has facilitated with key players across the public and private sectors.