By Dipo Olowookere
Normalcy returned to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday with a 1.63 per cent growth after two days of selling pressure, which made the bears dominate the market.
Gains reported by shares in the financial and consumer goods sectors lifted the bourse during the session as investors chewed on the new policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to address the foreign exchange (FX) crisis in the country, which has contributed to high inflation.
The banking counter increased yesterday by 7.82 per cent, the consumer goods index appreciated by 4.37 per cent, the insurance sector grew by 2.18 per cent, the industrial goods space gained 0.35 per cent, and the energy counter advanced by 0.02 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) was elevated by 1,647.80 points to 102,802.25 points from 101,154.45 points, and the market capitalisation went up by N902 billion to close at N56.260 trillion compared with the previous day’s N55.358 trillion.
Investor sentiment turned bullish during the trading day after 53 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart and 18 stocks finished on the losers’ table, implying a positive market breadth index.
The quartet of Caverton, Chams, GTCO, and Veritas Kapital appreciated by 10.00 per cent each to trade at N1.87, N2.64, N40.70, and 66 Kobo apiece, as NASCON gained 9.98 per cent to close at N67.75.
Conversely, Deap Capital weakened by 9.88 per cent to 73 Kobo, CWG declined by 9.87 per cent to N6.85, RT Briscoe lost 9.86 per cent to trade at 64 Kobo, University Press depleted by 9.76 per cent to N3.33, and McNichols crashed by 9.43 per cent to N1.44.
Business Post reports that Universal Insurance was the most active stock on Thursday, selling 113.8 million units for N42.5 million, Transcorp traded 91.0 million units worth N1.2 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 74.3 million units valued at N2.8 billion, UBA transacted 69.2 million units worth N1.7 billion, and Veritas Kapital traded 58.7 million units valued at N36.0 million.
When trading activities were wrapped up for the day, investors had bought and sold 861.0 million equities valued at N12.2 billion in 12,851 deals as against the 749.1 million equities worth N22.5 billion traded in 14,288 deals in the midweek session, representing a rise in the volume of transactions by 14.94 per cent, a decline in the value of transactions by 45.78 per cent, and a decrease in the number of deals by 10.06 per cent.
