Fidson, Others Lift NGX Index by 0.06% Though Weak Sentiment Persists

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by a marginal 0.06 per cent on Friday amid sustained weak investor sentiment.

Gains in Fidson and 13 other equities contributed to the slight improvement in the outcome of the Nigerian bourse on the last trading session of the week.

The healthcare stock appreciated during the session by 9.59 per cent to settle at N12.00, FTN Cocoa grew by 9.09 per cent to 36 kobo, Courteville rose by 8.51 per cent to 51 kobo, Jaiz Bank improved by 7.78 per cent to 97 kobo, while FCMB gained 7.69 per cent to quote at N3.50.

The market breadth finished bearish yesterday with 17 price losers led by MRS Oil, which dropped 9.76 per cent to N14.80, The Initiates lost 9.09 per cent to trade at 40 kobo, Learn Africa went down by 4.00 per cent to N2.16, Oando fell by 3.23 per cent to N6.00, while AIICO Insurance declined by 2.94 per cent to 66 kobo.

At the market yesterday, the industrial goods sector closed flat, the insurance and energy counters depreciated by 0.50 per cent and 0.46 per cent respectively, while the banking and consumer goods indices appreciated by 0.06 per cent and 0.02 per cent respectively.

As for the All Share Index (ASI), it appreciated by 30.65 points to 53,201.38 points from 53,170.73 points, while the market capitalisation rose by N16 billion to N28.681 trillion from N28.665 trillion.

During the session, a total of 273.2 million shares worth N2.7 billion were traded in 4,584 deals compared with the 318.4 million shares worth N3.3 billion traded in 4,345 deals on Thursday, representing a decline in the trading volume and value by 14.19 per cent and 20.72 per cent respectively and an increase in the number of deals by 5.50 per cent.

Transcorp maintained its position as the most active stock after it sold 103.4 million units for N144.3 million, GTCO exchanged 17.9 million units worth N393.9 million, FCMB transacted 17.5 million units valued at N61.1 million, FBN Holdings traded 15.7 million units worth N160.8 million, while Zenith Bank traded 14.7 million units valued at N336.8 million.