16 Stocks Rescue Local Bourse from Danger Zone

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday after it gained 0.25 per cent on the back of the growth printed by 16 stocks at the close of transactions.

Traders reacted to the positive results of Stanbic IBTC and Zenith Bank, using the opportunity to buy up their stocks and others.

Business Post observed that all the key sectors of the market closed in the green territory yesterday, with the insurance index rising by 4.79 per cent. The industrial goods space gained 1.15 per cent, the banking sector rose by 0.56 per cent, the consumer goods landscape appreciated by 0.25 per cent, while the energy counter increased by 0.16 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) improved by 120.48 points to 48,675.24 points from 48,554.76 points, while the market capitalisation expanded by N65 billion to N26.254 trillion from N26.189 trillion.

NEM Insurance finished the day as the biggest price gainer, growing by 10.00 per cent to close at N4.84. Stanbic IBTC improved by 8.93 per cent to N30.50, Ecobank increased by 8.00 per cent to N10.80, Cutix jumped by 7.37 per cent to N2.04, while Mutual Benefits leapt by 6.90 per cent to 31 Kobo.

On the flip side, Fidson closed the session as the biggest price loser as it went down by 9.80 per cent to N9.11, FTN Cocoa lost 9.09 per cent to trade at 30 Kobo, Unity Bank fell by 2.33 per cent to 42 Kobo, FCMB declined by 2.19 per cent to N3.13, while AIICO Insurance dropped 1.79 per cent to close at 55 Kobo.

Yesterday, Access Holdings was the most traded stock as it sold 27.9 million units worth N231.1 million. UBA exchanged 23.0 million shares for N160.9 million, FBN Holdings traded 22.5 million shares worth N242.0 million, GTCO transacted 16.1 million equities valued at N324.0 million, while Zenith Bank traded 11.9 million stocks for N261.1 million.

Data showed that a total of 167.6 million equities worth N3.4 billion were traded in 3,751 deals on Wednesday as against the 204.2 million equities worth N3.2 billion traded in 3,533 deals on Tuesday, indicating a decline in the trading volume by 17.92 per cent, an increase in the trading value 5.98 per cent and a growth in the number of deals by 6.17 per cent.