Fidson, 25 Others Rescue Stock Exchange from Bears on Bullish Sentiment

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited returned to winning ways on Thursday after 26 equities triggered the comeback and relegated the bears to the background.

Business Post reports that the stock exchange gained 0.20 per cent yesterday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting and strong investor sentiment after only 21 equities shed weight, indicating a positive market breadth index.

During the session, the consumer goods sector lost 0.65 per cent to profit-taking, while the industrial goods segment closed flat. But the energy index grew by 1.90 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 0.66 per cent, and the banking space improved by 0.49 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 505.56 points to 252,366.80 points from 251,861.24 points, and the market capitalisation jumped by N328 billion to N163.859 trillion from N163.531 trillion.

Fidson surged 9.94 per cent to N91.80, Sunu Assurances gained 9.92 per cent to finish at N2.88, Champion Breweries rose by 9.85 per cent to N11.15, Caverton soared by 9.59 per cent to N4.00, and Fortis Global climbed by 9.42 per cent to N1.51.

Conversely, International Breweries lost 7.18 per cent to end at N8.40, Tantalizers slipped by 6.67 per cent to N3.50, Honeywell Flour dipped by 4.85 per cent to N31.40, Vitafoam Nigeria crashed by 4.66 per cent to N134.90, and UPDC REIT declined by 3.74 per cent to N19.30.

Yesterday, market participants traded 2.9 billion shares valued at N78.7 billion in 28,318 deals compared with the 418.4 million shares worth N22.8 billion transacted in 30,908 deals a day earlier. This indicated that the trading volume soared by 593.12 per cent, the trading value increased by 245.18 per cent, and the number of deals decreased by 8.38 per cent.

Livestock Feeds was the most active stock on Thursday, with a turnover of 2.2 billion units sold for N19.5 billion. First Holdco transacted 324.3 million units valued at N32.4 billion, VFD Group traded 137.5 million units worth N1.6 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 26.8 million units for N719.0 million, and UBA sold 16.6 million units valued at N690.8 million.