The stocks of financial institutions appreciated on the first trading day after the Central Bank Governor, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, on Friday, said that banks will be required to recapitalise to service the $1 trillion economy projected by President Bola Tinubu.

At the 58th annual Bankers’ Dinner, Cardoso said that a stress test performed on Nigerian banks revealed that while they would withstand mild to moderate stress, they would be unable to service a $1tn economy hence the need for recapitalisation.

He said, “Stress tests conducted on the banking industry also indicate its strength under mild-to-moderate scenarios of sustained economic and financial stress, although there is room for further strengthening and enhancing resilience to shocks. Therefore, there is still much work to be done in fortifying the industry for future challenges.”

Following the apex bank boss’ speech which has elicited varied reactions, on Monday, the First Bank of Nigeria Holdings led the gainers’ chart with 10 per cent gain to close at N22 per unit. This is the highest it has risen so far this month.

Already, FBNH has announced plans to raise fresh capital via a Rights Issue and investors have been positioning themselves in the build-up to the commencement of the issue.

Also making a gain on Monday was the stock of Sterling Financial Holdings Company, which gained 5.07 per cent to close at N3.73. This is another high for the lender as it traded as low as N3.5 on Thursday.

The stocks of Access Holdings Plc appreciated by 4.32 per cent to close at N18.1 compared to Friday’s closing figure of N17.35 per unit. Over 81.514 million units of the shares of the lender worth N1.467bn were traded in 621 deals.

Zenith Bank shares rose by 1.73 per cent to close at N35.3 per unit. The bank saw 12,914,65 units of its shares valued at N453.44m exchanged in 475 deals.

Also, a gainer of the renewed interest in banking stocks were the shares of FCMB which appreciated by 1.46 per cent to N6.95 per unit. A total of 14,950,665 valued at N104.32m were exchanged in 115 deals and United Bank for Africa wrapped up the list of banking stocks on the gainers chart with a gain of 1.44 per cent. 30,306,403 million units of UBA shares worth N646.18m exchanged hands in 517 deals.

Banking stocks were also the volume and value drivers of the day’s trend on the NGX led by stocks of AccessCorp, United Bank of Africa and Zenith Bank.

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