By Dipo Olowookere

Last week, investors bought and sold 2.645 billion stocks valued at N77.005 billion in 86,110 deals at Customs Street compared with the 2.200 billion stocks worth N75.409 billion transacted in 70,329 deals a week earlier.

Unlike the preceding week, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited opened its door to business for five days, with the financial services sector dominating the activity chart after transacting 1.638 billion shares for N45.825 billion in 37,843 deals, contributing 61.90 per cent and 59.51 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.

The services industry posted a turnover of 364.653 million equities valued at N2.909 billion in 7,760 deals, and the consumer goods space transacted 190.221 million stocks worth N6.771 billion in 10,595 deals.

The three busiest stocks in the week were GTCO, Access Holdings, and Tantalizers with 839.689 million units sold for N27.737 billion in 8,898 deals, accounting for 31.74 per cent and 36.02 per cent of the total trading volume and value, respectively.

Business Post reports that 68 equities appreciated last week versus 52 equities in the previous week, 28 shares depreciated versus 37 shares a week earlier, and 52 stocks remained unchanged versus 59 stocks in the preceding week.

Multiverse was the biggest price gainer at 57.48 per cent to settle at N10.00, Academy Press expanded by 50.52 per cent to N4.32, Beta Glass appreciated by 46.31 per cent to N160.65, The Initiates rose by 34.95 perr cent to N6.68, and International Energy Insurance advanced by 31.88 per cent to N1.82.

The heaviest price decliner for the week was Abbey Mortgage Bank after it shed 15.66 per cent to N7.00, Meyer depreciated by 13.51 per cent to N8.00, Veritas Kapital lost 10.81 per cent to sell for 99 Kobo, VFD Group deflated by 10.61 per cent to N16.00, and Transcorp Power fell by 9.98 per cent to N328.50.

The performance indicators showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation appreciated in the week by 2.54 per cent to 108,733.40 points and N68.339 trillion, respectively.

Also, all other indices closed higher except the MERI Growth index, which went down by 0.15 per cent, while the ASeM index closed flat.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited suffered its first loss this week with a 0.46 per cent decline on Friday, influenced by profit-taking.

The market was under selling pressure yesterday, with all the key sectors of the bourse closing in red when the gong was struck by 2:30 pm.

The commodity index was down by 1.94 per cent, the insurance sector depreciated by 0.22 per cent, the industrial goods space lost 0.18 per cent, the consumer goods counter went down by 0.05 per cent, the energy industry tumbled by 0.02 per cent, and the banking sector fell by 0.01 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 498.56 points to 108,733.40 points from 109,231.96 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N314 billion to N68.339 trillion from N68.653 trillion.

The market participants traded 459.2 million equities valued at N11.2 billion in 15,723 deals on Friday versus the 554.1 million equities worth N14.4 billion traded 16,704 deals in the preceding session, implying a decrease in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 17.13 per cent, 22.22 per cent, and 5.87 per cent apiece.

Tantalizers traded 101.4 million shares for N237.3 million, GTCO exchanged 51.3 million equities worth N3.5 billion, Access Holdings transacted 45.2 million stocks valued at N975.3 million, Zenith Bank sold 21.8 million shares worth N1.1 billion, and Sterling Holdings transacted 15.5 million equities valued at N91.8 million.

The heaviest price loser was Transcorp Power with a decline of 9.98 per cent to settle at N328.50, Haldane McCall fell by 9.57 per cent to N4.25, Meyer lost 9.09 per cent to trade at N8.00, Regency Alliance dropped 6.78 per cent to finish at 55 Kobo, and Sunu Assurances crumbled by 6.73 per cent to N4.99.

On the flip side, ABC Transport chalked up 10.00 per cent to quote at N2.86, Sterling Holdings also expanded by 10.00 per cent to close at N6.05, Chellarams improved by 9.94 per cent to N10.40, Academy Press gained 9.92 per cent to finish at N4.32, and Red Star Express appreciated by 9.90 per cent to N5.55.

Business Post reports that a total of 34 stocks appreciated, while 32 stocks depreciated, indicating a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment despite the loss recorded by Customs Street during the session.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Four stocks weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.46 per cent on Friday, May 9, bringing down the market capitalisation by N9.02 billion to N1.935 trillion from N1.944 trillion quoted at the preceding session, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 15.42 points to settle at 3,304.74 points, in contrast to the 3,320.16 points recorded a day earlier.

Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) went down by N1.28 during the trading session to finish at N22.60 per share versus Thursday’s value of N23.88 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.00 to close at N40.03 per unit compared with previous closing value of N41.03 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc depreciated by 11 Kobo to end at N1.81 per share versus the previous session’s N1.92 per share, and UBN Property Plc shrank by 4 Kobo to trade at N1.96 per unit, in contrast to the N2.00 per unit it was sold in the preceding day.

However, the price of Impresit Bakolori Plc went up by 11 Kobo yesterday to close at N1.27 per share versus the previous day’s price of N1.16 per share.

The volume of transactions went down on Friday by 33.1 per cent to 231.6 million units from the 346.3 million units recorded a day earlier, the value of trades decreased by 31.3 per cent to N606.4 million from N882.8  million, while the number of deals increased by 256.3 per cent to 57 deals from 16 deals.

At the close of trading activities, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 265.8 million units valued at N469.5 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion.

Similarly, Okitipupa Plc was the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 153.6 million units worth N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 19.9 million units valued at N765.5 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.