By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited maintained its upright posture on Tuesday as it was not moved by the revelation that the country’s foreign exchange (FX) reserves were at 3.7 billion as against almost $34 billion quoted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a report dated August 17, 2023, an American investment firm, JP Morgan, said the buffers were at a low of $3.7 billion as of the end of 2022 compared with about $14 billion the previous year.
This report because known to many Nigerians on Monday after local media platforms, including Business Post, published it.
At the stock market yesterday, investors, though cautious, waved off the report and sustained their bargain-hunting activities in a few equities with sound fundamentals.
This buying pressure on shares of BUA Foods, Guinness Nigeria, and GlaxoSmithKline pushed the bourse higher by 0.44 per cent at the close of business.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) was elevated by 286.26 points to 65,488.67 points from 65,202.41 points, while investors’ wealth grew by N157 billion as the market capitalisation increased to N35.842 trillion from N35.685 trillion.
The consumer goods index improved during the session by 3.75 per cent, the insurance sector appreciated by 0.53 per cent, and the industrial goods space rose by 0.01 per cent, while the banking and the energy counters lost 0.90 per cent and 0.19 per cent, respectively.
Cornerstone Insurance closed the session as the best-performing stock after it gained 9.84 per cent to sell at N1.34, CWG expanded by 9.74 per cent to N4.28, SCOA Nigeria jumped by 9.38 per cent to N1.40, ABC Transcorp grew by 8.33 per cent to 52 Kobo, and BUA Foods chalked up 7.91 per cent to trade at N165.00.
The worst-performing equities were Chellarams, Sunu Assurance and Nigerian Breweries because they lost 10.00 per cent each to quote at N3.96, 72 Kobo and N38.25 apiece. John Holt shed 8.81 per cent to N1.45, and Mutual Benefits was trimmed by 6.82 per cent to 41 Kobo.
Despite the gains, investor sentiment was weak because the market breadth index closed bearish, with 26 price losers and 16 price gainers.
The NGX printed a turnover of 293.5 million stocks worth N4.1 billion executed in 5,895 deals versus the 231.6 million stocks worth N4.0 billion traded in 5,494 deals on Monday, showing an increase in the trading volume, value and the number of deals by 26.73 per cent, 2.50 per cent, and 7.30 per cent apiece.
With the sale of 41.3 million shares valued at N185.0 million, Transcorp topped the activity log yesterday and was trailed by Access Bank with a turnover of 36.2 million stocks worth N616.4 million. Fidelity Bank traded 32.1 million shares worth N229.7 million, Omatek exchanged 15.0 million equities valued at N4.3 million, and Ecobank sold 13.2 million stocks for N208.5 million.
Adedapo Adesanya