By Dipo Olowookere
The bulls maintained their grip on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday, causing the market to close higher by 0.73 per cent despite a weak investor sentiment.
Business Post observed that sustained bargain-hunting in industrial goods equities was the pillar that held the exchange firmly during the session despite selling pressure from three other sectors.
The insurance counter lost 0.24 per cent, the energy space fell by 0.18 per cent, the consumer goods sector depreciated by 0.09 per cent, while the industrial goods counter appreciated by 4.01 per cent, and the banking index rose by 0.49 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 326.51 points to 44,788.14 points from 44,461.63 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N178 billion to close at N24.395 trillion in contrast to the previous day’s N24.217 trillion.
The market breadth was negative yesterday as the bourse ended the session with 19 depreciating shares and nine appreciating shares led by BUA Cement, which improved by 10.00 per cent to trade at N68.20. Sunu Assurances expanded by 9.38 per cent to 35 Kobo, Jaiz Bank gained 8.99 per cent to trade at 97 Kobo, Union Bank appreciated by 8.47 per cent to N6.40, and RT Briscoe went up by 7.14 per cent to 30 Kobo.
On the flip side, Royal Exchange depreciated by 9.64 per cent to close at 75 Kobo, Multiverse decreased by 8.50 per cent to N4.20, May and Baker fell by 6.67 per cent to N3.92, Cornerstone Insurance shrank by 5.88 per cent to 48 Kobo, and NGX Group lost 4.42 per cent to settle at N20.55.
Investors traded 159.2 million shares worth N2.7 billion in 3,385 deals on Tuesday compared with the 72.3 million shares worth N2.2 billion transacted in 2,887 deals on Monday, indicating an increase in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 120.12 per cent, 25.84 per cent and 17.25 per cent, respectively.
Mutual Benefits ended the trading session as the most active stock with a turnover of 47.4 million units, Sterling Bank sold 24.4 million units, Jaiz Bank transacted 10.6 million units, Fidelity Bank exchanged 10.3 million units, and GTCO traded 6.3 million units.