NGX Gains 0.75% as FBN Holdings Sustains Aggressive Buying Momentum

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by 0.75 per cent on Friday as the local demand for FBN Holdings Plc stocks was sustained during the final trading day of the week.

This raised the All-Share Index (ASI) by 308.17 points to 41,438.15 points from 41,129.98 points and as for the market capitalisation, the listing of 1.964 billion shares of NGX Group Plc shares on the exchange yesterday expanded it by N193 billion to N21.625 trillion from N21.432 trillion.

The market breadth closed positive yesterday with eight declining stocks and 30 appreciating equities led by SCOA Nigeria, which rose by 9.20 per cent to 95 kobo and was trailed by Custodian Investment, which grew by 8.96 per cent to N7.30, International Breweries went up by 8.70 per cent to N5.00, FBN Holdings rose by 8.09 per cent to N12.70, while GlaxoSmithKline grew by 6.56 per cent to N6.50.

On the flip side, Chams depreciated by 8.33 per cent to 22 kobo, University Press fell by 6.25 per cent to N1.50, Lafarge Africa declined by 4.74 per cent to N24.10, Africa Prudential lost 3.62 per cent to trade at N6.65, while Sterling Bank dropped 3.18 per cent to N1.52.

During the trading session, the trading volume fell by 19.72 per cent to 729.0 million units from 908.1 million units, the trading value dropped 22.25 per cent to N8.5 billion from N11.0 billion, while the number of deals declined by 5.80 per cent to 4,852 deals from 5,151 deals.

FBN Holdings sustained its aggressive buying momentum on Friday and emerged as the most traded stock at the close of transactions with a turnover of 476.5 million units transacted for N    5.9 billion.

Universal Insurance exchanged 39.7 million stocks worth N8.3 million, GTCO traded 33.2 million equities valued at N972.4 million, Fidelity Bank transacted 21.9 million shares worth N59.8 million, while Transcorp sold 20.8 million stocks valued at N20.4 million.

Business Post reports that the five main sectors finished positive yesterday with the consumer goods index rising by 0.91 per cent. The energy sector gained 0.86 per cent, the insurance counter rose by 0.84 per cent, the industrial goods space went up by 0.75 per cent, while the banking sector appreciated by 0.34 per cent.