| banks | March 23 low price | May 27 high price |
| Access | 5.4 | 7.35 |
| ETI | 4.45 | 6.05 |
| FBNH | 3.85 | 5.7 |
| FIDELITY | 1.74 | 2 |
| GTB | 16.75 | 24.85 |
| STANBIC | 23.85 | 35.8 |
| STERLING | 1 | 1.4 |
| UBA | 4.5 | 7.2 |
| UNION | 6.5 | 6.7 |
| Zenith | 10.7 | 17.9 |
Some two months ago (March 23 to be precise) the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was at the lows of the year on coronavirus fears, investors were bailing on equities and all stocks were being beaten down.
Investors who braved the selloff and put in buy bids for the major bank stocks have however been rewarded as the mega rally that began on March 24th has seen about N882 billion added to the pockets of shareholders of the 10 largest listed Banks.
Top of the list of Banks with the biggest move up in terms of naira value in 2 months is Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), which has added N238.38 billion in market capitalisation since March 23.
That has seen its stock price close trading at N24.85 on Wednesday May 27th, from a low of N16.75 on March 23. This is equivalent to gains of 48.3 percent in 2 months.
Next is Zenith Bank which has gained N226 billion in market capitalisation in the period. Its stock rose to N17.9 from a low of N10.70 two months ago, equivalent to gains of 67.2 percent.
They are followed by Stanbic IBTC Bank, UBA and Access with market capitalisation gains of N125.4 billion, N92.3 billion and N69.3 billion respectively.
Stanbic’s stock is up 50 percent, UBA 60 percent and Access 36 percent for the period.
Next are FBNH with market capitalisation gains of N66.4 billion, EcoBank Transnational (ETI) N39.56 billion, Sterling bank N11.5 billion, Fidelity N7.53 billion and Union N5.824 billion.
In terms of percentage gains, FBNH rose by 48 percent, ETI 34.8 percent, Sterling Bank 40 percent, Fidelity Bank 15 percent and Union Bank 3 percent.
This means Zenith Bank rose the most in percentage terms for the period, while Union Bank rose the least.
The mega move higher in these 10 banking stocks was equivalent to 45 percent of the total gains made by the entire market or the NSE all share index.
This is important because it shows that investors have to time the market well and be in the right stocks to be able to capture any gains from the markets.