NIGERIAN STOCKS RISE BY 0.67% AS A RESULT OF BARGAIN-HUNTING.

Scare brought on by the alleged invasion of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) headquarters for the arrest of the bank's governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, by agents of DSS over allegations relating to terrorism financing and others, normalcy was restored to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday.

The development led some investors to cut back on their holdings of Nigerian stocks, which at Monday's close resulted in a 0.31 percent decline in the market.

Investor confidence was raised by reports that everything is under control and that President Muhammadu Buhari had purportedly ordered the secret police to abide by a court ruling that barred them from arresting the CBN chairman.

When trading ended at 2:30 pm yesterday, this led to a shopping frenzy that helped the local bourse rise by 0.67 percent.

Consequently, the market capitalization increased by N192 billion to close at N28.705 trillion, while the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 352.49 points to 52,701.31 points from 52,348.82 points.

Only the insurance counter closed lower by 0.08 percent on Tuesday performed better on that day. The consumer goods sector increased by 0.53%, the banking sector increased by 0.19%, the energy index increased by 0.19%, and the industrial goods sector increased by 0.08%.

In comparison to the 221.9 million shares worth N3.3 billion traded in 5,219 deals on Monday, traders transacted 228.5 million shares worth N4.4 billion in 3,681 deals on Tuesday. This represents a decrease in the number of deals by 29.47%, an improvement in the volume of trades by 2.99%, and an increase in the value of transactions by 33.33%.

Investors were most interested in financial stocks throughout the day, with Sterling Bank and Chams both transacting 76.7 million and 17.6 million units, respectively. Zenith Bank sold 11.3 million shares, Royal Exchange bought 10.7 million stocks, and GTCO moved 16.8 million shares. Contrary today, investors were confident yesterday as the stock market closed with 21 stocks rising and 15 stocks declining, showing a good market breadth.

The gainers' list was headed by UPDC REIT, whose value increased by 10% to N3.30, followed by MRS Oil, whose value increased by 9.3% to N15.50, Chellarams, whose value increased by 9.2% to N1.33, Sunu Assurances, whose value increased by 8.8% to 37 Kobo, and McNichols, whose value increased by 7.02% to 61 Kobo.

On the other hand, UPDC led the losers' list with a decrease of 6.93% to 94 Kobo, followed by a 6.71% decline to N139.00 for Geregu Power, a 6.38% decline to 44 Kobo for Linkage Assurance, a 5.26% decline to 90 Kobo for Royal Exchange, and a 5.21% decline to N10.00 for PZ Cussons.

Additionally, the market's year-to-date (YtD) positive return grew to 20.28 percent. On the Exchange, Oando, FCMB Group, UBA, Access Holdings, and GTCO had the highest volume of trading. Equity dealers exchanged 229,366,382 units for N3.196 billion in 4,536 transactions.

The share price of Courteville Business Solutions increased from 46 to 50 kobo, representing an 8.70 percent increase, placing top gainers on the Nigerian Exchange.

The All-Share Index and Market Capitalization of the country's stock market surged to 51,377.21 points and N27.697 trillion, respectively, from 51,091.75 points and N27.544 trillion the day before.