By Dipo Olowookere
The key performance indicators of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) improved by 0.17 per cent on Friday as the shares of Champion Breweries and 11 others gained points.
The positive momentum was sustained yesterday despite a weak investor sentiment caused by sell-offs in Oando, GTCO, Nigerian Breweries and 15 others.
From the analysis of the data from the bourse, the insurance, consumer goods and energy sectors depreciated by 0.71 per cent, 0.56 per cent and 0.46 per cent respectively, while the banking counter expanded by 0.06 per cent, with the industrial goods space closing flat.
At the close of trades, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 86.88 points to 51,705.61 points from 51,618.73 points, while the market capitalisation grew by N47 billion to N27.875 points from 27.828 points.
A total of 156.1 million stocks worth N1.8 billion were traded in 4,312 deals yesterday compared with the 223.3 million stocks worth N2.9 billion traded in 4,028 deals on Thursday, implying a decline in the trading volume and value by 99.93 per cent and 35.82 per cent apiece and growth in the number of deals by 7.05 points.
Oando was the most active stock during the session as it traded 19.3 million shares valued at N110.3 million, Linkage Assurance transacted 12.0 million stocks for N6.4 million, Transcorp exchanged 9.1 million equities valued at N11.4 million, Access Holdings sold 10.0 million shares for N85.326 while UBA exchanged 8.9 million shares valued at N66.7 million.
The biggest price gainer was Champion Breweries as it gained 10.00 per cent to sell at N3.74, John Holt appreciated by 8.62 per cent to trade at 63 kobo, May and Baker appreciated by 8.47 per cent to N3.97, International Breweries rose by 5.26 per cent to N6.00, while FBN Holdings grew by 4.46 per cent to N10.55.
The worst-performing stock was Livestock Feeds as it fell by 9.09 per cent to N1.40, Red Star Express lost 8.64 per cent to settle at N2.75, Unity Bank dropped 8.16 per cent to 45 kobo, Courteville depreciated by 6.00 per cent to 47 kobo, while FCMB retreated by 5.71 per cent to N3.30.
