Investors Buy, Sell N33.626bn Shares in One Week

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was quite busy last week as investors bought and sold 3.029 billion shares worth N33.626 billion in 29,505 deals compared with the 3.602 billion shares valued at N36.451 billion transacted in 27,801 deals in the preceding week.

Stocks in the financial sector enticed traders, who could not let go because of their liquid nature, resulting in the sale of 2.095 billion units worth N21.847 billion completed in 14,008 deals, thus contributing 69.17 per cent and 64.97 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.

Equities in the conglomerates industry trailed with 398.558 million units valued at N1.185 billion executed in 3,129 deals, while the third place was the services division, which traded 270.111 million units worth N1.853 billion in 1,317 deals.

A breakdown showed that Fidelity Bank, Access Holdings, and Transcorp were the most actively-traded shares, accounting for 1.328 billion units worth N8.159 billion in 5,286 deals, contributing 43.84 per cent and 24.26 per cent to the total trading volume and value apiece.

FTN Cocoa ended the week as the best-performing stock after its value rose by 37.50 per cent to 44 Kobo, Ikeja Hotel appreciated by 30.13 per cent to N2.03, PZ Cussons jumped by 28.00 per cent to N16.00, Livestock Feeds expanded by 27.45 per cent to N1.30, and Cornerstone Insurance improved by 23.08 per cent to N80 Kobo.

Conversely, CWG ended the week as the worst-performing due to the 25.60 per cent loss it posted, closing at 53 Kobo. Ardova shed 23.67 per cent to N20.15, May and Baker depleted by 10.11 per cent to N4.00, Honeywell Flour slumped by 9.67 per cent to N2.71, and McNichols fell by 9.33 per cent to 68 Kobo.

During the trading week, 44 equities appreciated in price compared with 48 equities of the previous week, 27 shares closed in the losers’ chart as against the 30 shares of the preceding week, while 85 stocks closed flat, in contrast to 78 stocks reported a week earlier.

Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation depreciated last week by 0.05 per cent to 52,187.93 points and N28.417 trillion, respectively, due to profit-taking.

All other indices finished higher except NGX Main Board, NGX 30, energy, NGX Lotus II, industrial goods, and growth indices, which fell by 0.64 per cent, 0.09 per cent, 1.67 per cent, 0.66 per cent, 0.03 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively, while the ASeM and sovereign bond indices closed flat.