Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed higher by 0.97 per cent on Monday on the back of a renewed bargain-hunting in BUA Cement, Nigerian Breweries and others.
The buying interest was seen across the sectors, except the banking space, which came under profit-taking, weakening its index by 0.44 per cent at the close of transactions.
The industrial goods sector appreciated by 4.03 per cent, the insurance counter rose by 1.23 per cent, the consumer goods counter grew by 0.78 per cent, and the energy sector jumped by 0.36 per cent.
At the close of trades, the All-Share Index (ASI) expanded by 646.76 points to settle at 67,101.33 points compared with the preceding session’s 66,454.57 points as the market capitalisation increased by N356 billion to finish at N36.866 trillion versus the previous session’s N36.510 trillion.
Business Post reports that the level of activity went down on the first trading session of the week, with the trading volume and value going down by 28.17 per cent and 60.67 per cent apiece, while the number of deals grew by 1.30 per cent.
The market recorded the sale of 268.7 million shares valued at N3.5 billion in 6,911 deals compared with the 374.1 million shares worth N8.9 billion traded in 6,822 deals last Friday.
ABC Transport closed the day as the most active stock after trading 29.3 million units for N19.9 million, as Access Holdings exchanged 29.2 million units valued at N466.0 million. Oando traded 27.1 million units worth N253.0 million, UBA transacted 23.8 million units for N407.7 million, and Transcorp sold 23.7 million units valued at N149.5 million.
Investor sentiment was strong yesterday after the market breadth index ended positive, with 26 appreciating stocks and 23 depreciating equities.
BUA Cement was the biggest price gainer as it moved up by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance grew by 9.80 per cent to N1.12, Nigerian Breweries jumped by 9.09 per cent to N42.00, John Holt chalked up 8.11 per cent to trade at N1.60, and Sunu Assurances rose by 7.22 per cent to N1.04.
On the flip side, Prestige Assurance was the heaviest price loser after it dropped 10.00 per cent to close at 45 Kobo, FTN Cocoa declined by 8.33 per cent to N1.65, Neimeth shed 7.74 per cent to N1.55, Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 5.00 per cent to 38 Kobo, and eTranzact declined by 4.26 per cent to N9.00.
