MTN, C&I Leasing, Others Drive Nigerian Exchange’s 1.42% Surge

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further appreciated by 1.42 per cent on Friday, driven largely by the gains recorded by MTN Nigeria, Fortis Global Insurance, C&I Leasing and others.

The duo of Fortis Global Insurance and C&I Leasing chalked up 10.00 per cent each during the session to close at N1.65 and N5.50, respectively. MTN Nigeria surged by 9.20 per cent to N890.00, Mutual Benefits climbed by 9.09 per cent to N3.60, and Secure Electronic Technology also went up by 9.09 per cent to 72 Kobo.

Conversely, Transcorp Power lost 9.96 per cent to trade at N178.00, Cadbury Nigeria shed 9.32 per cent to close at N53.00, Omatek slipped by 8.40 per cent to N1.20, Sovereign Trust Insurance crashed by 6.78 per cent to N2.20, and Ellah Lakes dipped by 5.11 per cent to N8.35.

Business Post reports the consumer goods index was down by 0.36 per cent yesterday, but this loss was offset by the gains achieved by the other indices.

The banking space appreciated by 2.23 per cent, the insurance counter gained 1.03 per cent, the industrial goods sector improved by 0.81 per cent, and the energy segment rose by 0.01 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) moved up by 3,489.18 points to 249,804.56 points from 246,315.38 points, and the market capitalisation chalked up N2.265 trillion to N162.157 trillion from N159.892 trillion.

Yesterday, investors traded 526.0 million stocks worth N96.9 billion in 44,293 deals compared with the 1.1 billion stocks valued at N46.0 billion transacted in 54,102 deals in the previous session. This showed that the trading volume and number of deals fell by 52.18 per cent and 18.13 per cent, respectively, while the trading value surged by 110.65 per cent.

Mutual Benefits sold 76.6 million units for N263.9 million, AVA Capital traded 54.9 million units worth N256.7 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 41.9 million units valued at N318.3 million, Zenith Bank traded 30.7 million units for N3.9 billion, and First Holdco closed with a turnover of 23.8 million units worth N3.7 billion.