By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rebounded by 1.71 per cent on Wednesday on the back of news of Dangote Cement commencing the second tranche of its buy-back scheme.
The exchange had recorded its first loss in 2022 on Tuesday but returned to the bullish territory the next day after the Dangote Cement buy-back info.
This pushed the All-Share Index (ASI) higher by 749.52 points to 44,608.82 points from 43,859.30 points and raised the market capitalisation by N403 billion to N24.034 trillion from N23.631 trillion.
The stock market closed the midweek session with 24 price gainers led by Jaiz Bank and Academy Press, which grew by 10.00 per cent each to 66 kobo and 66 kobo respectively.
Unity Bank appreciated 8.70 per cent to 50 kobo, Sovereign Trust Insurance rose by 8.33 per cent to trade at 26 kobo, while Mutual Benefits appreciated by 7.41 per cent to 29 kobo.
However, there were 15 price losers yesterday led by Consolidated Hallmark Insurance and Regency Assurance, which fell by 8.70 per cent respectively to 63 kobo and 42 kobo apiece.
Furthermore, Sunu Assurances depreciated by 8.11 per cent to trade at 34 kobo, AIICO Insurance went down by 3.70 per cent to 78 kobo, while Neimeth declined by 3.23 per cent to N1.80.
Unlike the preceding session, only the insurance sector closed bearish on Wednesday, falling by 0.49 per cent.
The industrial goods space rose by 3.06 per cent, the energy counter gained 1.37 per cent, the banking index improved by 0.39 per cent, while the consumer goods sector went up by 0.14 per cent.
Despite the growth witnessed yesterday by the bourse, the level of activity was not impressive as the trading volume and value declined by 9.58 per cent and 43.53 per cent respectively, while the number of deals increased by 0.02 per cent.
A total of 266.3 million shares valued at N3.8 billion were traded in 4,502 deals yesterday compared with the 294.5 million shares worth N6.8 billion transacted in 4,501 deals a day earlier.
A further look into the chart showed that Transcorp dominated trading on Wednesday, closing as the most active with a turnover of 89.0 million stocks valued at N89.9 million.
FBN Holdings transacted 30.5 million shares worth N365.7 million, Jaiz Bank exchanged 14.2 million equities for N9.0 million, Sterling Bank traded 11.7 million stocks for N17.7 million, while GTCO transacted 9.8 million equities valued at N250.3 million.
