Domestic Bourse Rallies by 0.78% on Sustained Buying Pressure

By Dipo Olowookere

Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further ended on a positive note on Wednesday despite investors diversifying their funds to other securities available in the capital market.

Yesterday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold treasury bills to investors in the primary market but this did not affect the stock market, which closed higher by 0.78 per cent amid sustained buying pressure.

The growth recorded in the midweek session was mainly driven by bargain-hunting in the banking space, which rose by 5.01 per cent at the close of transactions.

It was the only gainer among the five sectors tracked by Business Post at the domestic bourse, as the insurance sector lost 2.00 per cent, the consumer goods index fell by 0.11 per cent and the industrial goods counter depreciated by 0.02 per cent, while the energy space remained unchanged.

The All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 558.47 points on Wednesday to 71,808.64 points from 71,250.17 points and the market capitalisation grew by N306 billion to N39.295 trillion from N38.989 trillion.

It was observed that the year-to-date gain hit 40.11 per cent yesterday, as investor sentiment remained strong with 34 price gainers and 22 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.

Thomas Wyatt soared by 9.93 per cent to N3.32, FBN Holdings appreciated by 9.91 per cent to N29.40, Multiverse grew by 9.90 per cent to N7.77, Ecobank rose by 9.88 per cent to N18.90, and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank improved by 9.70 per cent to N1.47.

On the flip side, AXA Mansard lost 9.69 per cent to N4.10, Guinea Insurance fell by 9.68 per cent to 28 Kobo, Oando declined by 9.13 per cent to N10.45, Omatek shrank by 8.14 per cent to 79 Kobo and Universal Insurance went down by 7.41 per cent to 25 Kobo.

A total of 690.0 million equities worth N12.1 billion exchanged hands in 8,412 deals on Wednesday versus the 433.6 million equities worth N11.1 billion traded in 7,016 deals on Tuesday, showing an increase in the trading volume, value and the number of deals by 59.13 per cent, 9.01 per cent and 19.90 per cent, respectively.

GTCO closed the session as the busiest stock after it transacted 76.7 million units valued at N3.0 billion, UBA exchanged 74.6 million units for N1.7 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 65.6 million units worth N596.3 million, Access Holdings transacted 64.2 million units valued at N1.3 billion, and Universal Insurance sold 47.1 million units for N12.2 million.