Stock Market Sustains Positive Energy, Rises 0.67% to N28.103trn

By Dipo Olowookere

The positive energy witnessed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in the latter part of 2022 was transmitted to 2023 as the first session of the year closed higher by 0.67 per cent on Tuesday.

The stock market did not operate on Monday due to the public holiday observed on that day to celebrate the new year.

But when the bourse opened for business yesterday, investors were full of energy and mopped up equities with good fundamentals, especially in the consumer goods and banking sectors.

This resulted in BUA Foods growing by 10.00 per cent at the close of transactions to N71.50, as John Holt expanded by 9.59 per cent to 80 Kobo. Prestige Assurance improved by 9.52 per cent to 46 Kobo, NAHCO grew by 9.37 per cent to N7.00, and UBA increased by 9.21 per cent to N8.30.

On the flip side, Chellarams ended the session on top of the losers’ chart after it went down by 9.82 per cent to N2.02, CWG lost 8.91 per cent to trade at 92 Kobo, FCMB depreciated by 8.83 per cent to N3.51, Honeywell Flour crashed by 5.98 per cent to N2.20, and Japaul fell by 3.57 per cent to 27 Kobo.

Business Post reports that when the market ended for the day at 2:30 pm, there gainers’ log had 23 members, while the losers’ log had 11 members, indicating a positive market breadth and a strong investor sentiment.

It was observed that the consumer goods space rose by 3.60 per cent, the banking index appreciated by 2.60 per cent, and the insurance sector improved by 2.55 per cent, while the energy counter depreciated by 0.02 per cent, and the industrial goods arm closed flat.

The gains posted by the three sectors raised the All-Share Index (ASI) by 344.60 points to 51,595.66 points from 51,251.06 points and increased the market capitalisation of the exchange by N188 billion to N28.103 trillion from N27.915 trillion.

Yesterday, investors transacted 321.7 million shares worth N4.4 billion in 4,122 deals as against the 890.7 million shares worth N7.4 billion traded in 3,566 deals in the preceding session, indicating a decline in the trading volume and value by 63.88 per cent and 40.54 per cent, respectively, while the number of deals went up by 15.59 per cent.

FBN Holdings was the most active stock as it sold 207.6 million units, GTCO transacted 13.8 million units, AIICO Insurance exchanged 12.2 million units, UBA traded 8.2 million units, and Access Holdings sold 6.8 million units.