By Dipo Olowookere
Investors are beginning to have confidence in the domestic stock market as the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by 0.95 per cent on Wednesday.
Business Post reports that 40 equities finished on the gainers’ chart during the trading session, while seven shares were on the losers’ table, indicating a positive market breadth and a bullish investor sentiment.
This helped push the All-Share Index (ASI) above 52,000 points after it increased by 491.13 points to 52,097.62 points from 51,606.49 points, as the market capitalisation grew by N267 billion to N28.367 trillion from N28.100 trillion.
Academy Press and Livestock Feeds gained 10.00 per cent each to finish at N1.43 and N1.10, respectively, as Total Energy grew by 9.96 per cent to N217.50, Cadbury Nigeria appreciated by 9.80 per cent to N11.20 and Honeywell Flour rose by 9.80 per cent to N2.80.
Conversely, Fidelity Bank lost 6.57 per cent to trade at N5.26, Fidson fell by 5.56 per cent to N8.50, Linkage Assurance depreciated by 4.35 per cent to 44 Kobo, AXA Mansard depleted by 3.28 per cent to N2.36, and Jaiz Bank went down by 3.26 per cent to 89 Kobo.
Transcorp topped the activity chart with the sale of 6.1 billion stocks valued at N15.6 billion, Aluminium Extrusion sold 112.5 million shares valued at N731.5 million, Access Holdings transacted 60.5 million equities worth N632.3 million, UBA traded 27.6 million shares valued at N218.0 million, and Fidelity Bank sold 22.3 million stocks for N123.6 million.
A total of 6.5 billion equities valued at N19.5 billion were transacted in 5,109 deals in the midweek session, in contrast to the 2.1 billion equities worth N8.9 billion transacted in 6,404 deals on Tuesday, implying a decline in the number of deals by 20.22 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and value by 209.52 per cent and 119.10 per cent, respectively.
Analysis of the sectorial performance did not really reflect the outcome of the bourse yesterday as the consumer goods, energy, and banking sectors depreciated by 0.13 per cent, 0.12 per cent, and 0.08 per cent apiece, while the insurance and the industrial goods indices appreciated by 0.93 per cent and 0.16 per cent, respectively.
