The review of the indexes done by the Nigerian Exchange Limited has seen some banking stocks, such as FBN Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, FCMB Group, and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, added to the Banking Index.

In a corporate announcement from the exchange during the week, the equities of Jaiz Bank, Unity Bank, Wema Bank and delisted Union Bank of Nigeria are exiting the Banking Index.

Stanbic IBTC and FCMB Group were previously identified as other financial institutions.

Index rebalancing is the process of adjusting the composition of a market index, ensuring it’s reliable and relevant. Rebalancing can cause significant shifts in trading volumes, affecting stock prices, sector trends, and broader market sentiment.

The NGX’s indices are rebalanced on a semi-annual basis on the first business day in January and in July respectively.

“Nigerian Exchange Limited has announced the results of its half-year market index review for the following indices – NGX 30; NGX Lotus Islamic; NGX Pension; NGX Pension Broad Index; Corporate Governance Index; Afrinvest Bank Value Index; Afrinvest Dividend Yield Index; Meristem Growth Index; Meristem Value Index; and the five Sectoral Indices of The Exchange – NGX Banking, NGX Insurance, NGX Industrial, NGX Consumer Goods and NGX Oil & Gas.

“The review has led to the entry and exit of some companies from several indices which took effect at the opening of the market on Tuesday, 2 January 2024. Below are the incoming and exiting companies in the various indices,” part of the corporate notice read.

For the Insurance index, Universal Insurance Plc joined the index while International Energy Insurance Plc exited. The Pension index will be boosted by the addition of Transcorp Hotels Plc, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc and Conoil while PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, Nascon Allied Industries Plc and Unilever Nigeria Plc are expected to exit.

NGX Lotus Islamic Index will witness the exit of Nestle Nigeria Plc. The Pension Broad Index will welcome Geregu Power Plc and say goodbye to GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Nigeria Plc.

The likes of MTN Nigeria, Vitafoam, Stanbic IBTC Holdings and NPF Microfinance Bank Plc will be added to the Afrinvest Div Yield Index while Dangote Sugar Refinery, FCMB Group, GSK and Cutix will exit the index.

Meanwhile, the NGX closed with over N13 trillion gain for investors in the equity market in 2023. This gain nearly tripled the figure recorded in 2022, which stood at N5.619 trillion, after the market capitalisation closed at N27.915 trillion.

At the close of the year’s trading activities, investors on the local bourse had gained N13.003 trillion as the market capitalisation closed at N40.917 trillion.

Similarly, the benchmark index of the exchange, the All-Share Index, had also appreciated. Its year-to-date gains stood at 45.90 percent with the ASI at 74,773.77 points at the end of trading in 2023. This is a significant increase as the ASI had closed 2022 with a YTD of 19.98 percent.