Investors scrambled for banking stocks last week as Nigerian equities sustained all-session bullish rally to reach their highest index point in recent period.

Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed week-on-week gain of 1.85 per cent at the equities market, equivalent to a net capital gain of N157 billion in the four-day trading week.


The Nation reports that the recovery at the stock market was evident as:

The NSE Banking Index, which tracks the banking sector, recorded average week-on-week gain of 3.64 per cent, almost a double of the average return at the stock market.
Banking stocks dominated the activities chart with two of the most capitalised banks-Zenith Bank International and FBN Holdings, accounting for 25 per cent and 30.4 per cent of the total turnover volume and value respectively.
There was considerable improvement in banks’ corporate earnings in the first quarter of this year, which many analysts believed was the major factor for the renewed investors’ appetite for banks’ shares.
With nearly three gainers for every loser, aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from the week’s opening value of N8.913 trillion to close the week at N9.069 trillion, an increase of 1.75 per cent.
The All Share Index (ASI)-the benchmark index that tracks prices at the Exchange, also trended from the index on board of 25,758.51 points to close at 26,235.63 points, representing a week-on-week gain of 1.85 per cent.
There were 43 gainers against 16 losers last week compared to 38 gainers and 25 losers recorded in the previous week.
A total of 114 stocks have remained unchanged for the past two weeks. Fidson Healthcare recorded the highest gain, in percentage terms, of 43.6 per cent to close at N1.58. Oando followed with a gain of 24 per cent to close at N7.17 while Livestock Feeds rose by 16.2 per cent to close at 86 kobo.
Total turnover during the four days of trading at the NSE stood at 1.15 billion shares worth N10.44 billion in 16,676 compared with a total of 1.33 billion shares valued at N9.67 traded in 16,300 deals two weeks ago.
It is hoped that the market would continue on the upswing over in the meantime, although profit-taking transactions could moderate performance in early trades this week.

Source: http://www.dailydigest.ng/investors-bank-shares-equities-sustain-bullish-rally/