By Dipo Olowookere
The local bourse rebounded marginally by 0.02 per cent on Tuesday, thanks to financial stocks, especially the tier-one banks as they rescued the market from the firm grip of the bears.
Yesterday’s growth was the first in seven straight sessions and it came a day after FBN Holdings posted unimpressive nine-month results as its earnings and profits waned and this affected its share price at the market.
However, investors found solace in other stocks and this improved the market breadth, which closed positive yesterday with 19 price losers and 20 price gainers led by Abbey Mortgage Bank, which grew by 9.47 per cent to N1.04.
Meyer appreciated by 8.33 per cent to 26 kobo, NEM Insurance rose by 7.56 per cent to N2.42, Academy Press improved by 7.14 per cent to 45 kobo, while Royal Exchange gained 6.90 per cent to trade at 62 kobo.
Conversely, GlaxoSmithKline depreciated by 9.32 per cent to N5.35, Seplat lost 5.38 per cent to finish at N615.00, Jaiz Bank dropped 4.48 per cent to 64 kobo, Dangote Sugar declined by 3.23 per cent to N15.00, while Japaul fell by 2.56 per cent to 38 kobo.
Business Post reports that the energy sector was the only sectoral decliner yesterday as it fell by 2.70 per cent, while the insurance, banking, industrial goods and consumer goods counters appreciated by 1.14 per cent, 1.13 per cent, 0.29 per cent and 0.11 per cent respectively.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed higher by 10.32 points to 42,018.92 points from 42,008.60 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N5 billion to N21.925 trillion from N21.920 trillion.
During the session, a total of 639.4 million shares worth N6.6 billion were traded in 4,564 deals as against the 422.2 million shares worth N4.5 billion traded in 5,059 deals a day earlier, indicating an increase in the trading volume and value by 51.46 per cent and 48.23 per cent apiece and a 9.78 per cent decline in the number of deals.
FBN Holdings was the most traded equity on Tuesday as it exchanged 364.0 million stocks valued at N4.1 billion. Sterling Bank traded 81.0 million shares for N121.4 million, Ecobank transacted 19.8 million equities valued at N159.4 million, GTCO traded 19.4 million stocks worth N467.0 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 18.6 million shares for N43.6 million.
