Local Stock Market Indices Rally 0.22% as Investors Gain N406bn

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further improved by 0.22 per cent on Friday despite bearish sentiment, as investors shift focus to the planned initial public offering (IPO) of Dangote Refinery in the coming days.

It was reported yesterday that the refinery was planning to sell its shares at a little over N500 per unit in about two weeks’ time.

It was observed that the energy segment rose by 3.37 per cent, the consumer goods space expanded by 1.10 per cent, and the banking space improved by 0.18 per cent.

However, the insurance index shed 3.02 per cent, and the industrial goods sector depreciated by 0.64 per cent.

At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) soared by 604.22 points to 246,992.44 points from 246,388.22 points, and the market capitalisation surged by N406 billion to N159.559 trillion from N159.153 trillion.

Abbey Bank improved by 10.00 per cent to N7.70, Royal Exchange gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N1.10, Nigerian Breweries soared by 9.93 per cent to N82.45, John Holt appreciated by 9.89 per cent to N10.00, and DAAR Communications chalked up 9.68 per cent to finish at N1.70.

Conversely, Haldane McCall lost 10.00 per cent to close at N3.60, Red Star Express shrank by 10.00 per cent to N13.95, IMG crashed by 9.97 per cent to quote at N30.70, Juli retreated by 9.66 per cent to N6.55, and University Press moderated by 9.09 per cent to N5.00.

A total of 29 equities gained weight during the session, and 31 equities shed weight, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.

The level of activity was significantly higher yesterday, due to large-ticket transactions recorded on the domestic stock market.

Fortis Global Insurance traded 1.5 billion shares for N2.8 billion, UBA sold 312.4 million stocks valued at N13.5 billion, Consolidated Hallmark transacted 52.8 million equities worth N331.3 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 31.0 million stocks worth N4.0 billion, and Access Holdings traded 25.2 million shares valued at N759.9 million.

At the close of trades, investors bought and sold 2.2 billion equities for N73.4 billion in 42,709 deals on Friday versus the 434.0 million equities worth N29.3 billion that exchanged hands in 42,303 deals on Thursday.

This implied that the trading volume, value, and number of deals expanded by 406.91 per cent, 150.51 per cent, and 0.96 per cent, respectively.