By Dipo Olowookere
The portfolios of equity investors swelled on Wednesday after the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further appreciated by 0.44 per cent as confidence in the market returns.
Traders smiled home yesterday after the bourse gained N246 billion, leaving the market capitalisation at N55.900 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N55.654 trillion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI), which is the key performance indicator of the exchange, went up by 435.00 points due to the sustained buying interest to 98,818.04 points from 98,383.04 points.
Business Post reports that the renewed bargain-hunting was further driven by the financial sector, which had the banking space growing by 2.30 per cent and the insurance counter appreciating by 1.14 per cent.
Further, the consumer goods index advanced by 0.85 per cent, and the industrial goods sector improved by 0.08 per cent, while the energy counter closed flat.
At midweek, the activity level waned despite the growth printed by the NGX, as the trading volume, value and the number of trades declined by 7.26 per cent, 28.36 per cent, and 2.62 per cent apiece.
Investors transacted 519.0 million shares worth N4.8 billion in 7,781 deals yesterday compared with the 559.6 million shares valued at N6.7 billion traded in 7,990 deals on Tuesday.
Abbey Mortgage Bank maintained its position on top of the activity chart after selling 230.4 million equities valued at N621.9 million, Access Holdings followed with 81.0 million stocks worth N1.4 billion, UBA exchanged 23.9 million shares for N541.7 million, FCMB sold 18.7 million stocks for N133.2 million, and Fidelity Bank traded 16.4 million equities valued at N154.9 million.
Analysis of the market breadth index indicated that it was positive after the NGX closed with 31 appreciating shares and 15 depreciating shares, showing a strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank gained 9.76 per cent to finish at N2.70, NASCON rose by 9.66 per cent to N40.85, FCMB grew by 9.63 per cent to N7.40, International Breweries expanded by 9.59 per cent to N4.00, and Dangote Sugar soared by 9.56 per cent to N47.00.
Conversely, International Energy Insurance lost 9.68 per cent to settle at N1.40, Jaiz Bank weakened by 6.52 per cent to N2.15, Tantalizers shed 6.00 per cent to 47 Kobo, NPF Microfinance Bank plunged by 5.88 per cent to N1.60, and Fidson crashed by 5.40 per cent to N14.90.
