Bargain Hunters Take NGX Year-to-Date Gain to 29.16% in August’s Last Session

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session in August 2024 on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a positive note on Friday with a 0.18 per cent rise, thanks to bargain hunters.

The positive outcome increased the year-to-date gain of the local stock exchange to 29.16 per cent at the close of transactions.

The All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 171.79 points to 96,580.01 points from 96,408.22 points and the market capitalisation improved by N99 billion to finish at N55.478 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N55.379 trillion.

The energy space gained 2.54 per cent, the banking index increased by 0.70 per cent, and the industrial goods counter expanded by 0.01 per cent, while the consumer goods and the insurance sectors depreciated by 0.24 per cent and 0.23 per cent, respectively.

The market breadth index remained positive yesterday due to the bourse closing with 27 price gainers and 25 price losers, implying a strong investor sentiment.

Berger Paints and Deap Capital gained 10.00 per cent each to finish at N14.30 and 88 Kobo apiece, Oando rose by 9.94 per cent to N76.90, McNichols jumped by 9.93 per cent to N1.55, and DAAR Communications soared by 8.96 per cent to 73 Kobo.

On the flip side, Eterna depreciated by 9.95 per cent to N27.60, RT Briscoe declined by 9.90 per cent to N3.55, Tantalizers shed 7.25 per cent to 64 Kobo, Chams dwindled by 7.17 per cent to N2.20, and Eunisell Chemicals lost 6.25 per cent to N3.00.

During the session, investors transacted 574.0 million shares valued at N31.6 billion in 12,754 deals compared with the 952.1 million shares worth N7.1 billion in 9,636 deals a day earlier, indicating a growth in the trading value by 345.07 per cent, and a decrease in the trading volume and the number of deals by 39.71 per cent and 32.36 per cent, respectively.

Julius Berger ended the day as the most active stock with 120.8 million units sold for N19.6 billion, Oando traded 93.9 million units worth N6.9 billion, Jaiz Bank transacted 54.0 million units for N117.9 million, GTCO exchanged 26.3 million units valued at N1.2 billion, and UBA traded 25.7 million units worth N580.2 million.