By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of February 2024 at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a positive note as it rebounded by 0.68 per cent after the interest rate hike scare.
The growth posted on Thursday was triggered by bargain-hunting in financial stocks, especially those selling at cheaper prices after the sell-offs in the past few sessions.
However, profit-taking persisted in the other sectors of the bourse, with the energy, and consumer goods indices closing lower by 0.33 per cent, and 0.18 per cent, respectively.
Business Post reports that the banking space rose by 6.14 per cent, and the insurance counter appreciated by 1.26 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 677.73 points to end at 99,980.30 points compared with the midweek’s 99,302.57 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N371 billion to N54.708 trillion versus Wednesday’s N54.337 trillion.
Unlike the previous day, investor sentiment was strong during the session, as the bourse recorded 37 price gainers and 19 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.
The quartet of GTCO, NEM Insurance, Juli, and UBA topped the advancers’ log after they gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N39.60, N6.60, N3.41, and N22.55 apiece, while Champion Breweries chalked up 9.97 per cent to trade at N3.42.
On the flip side, Sunu Assurances topped the laggards’ group with a 10.00 per cent loss to close at N1.71, Eterna dropped 9.81 per cent to settle at N14.25, CWG weakened by 9.76 per cent to N5.55, Morison Industries declined by 9.58 per cent to N1.51, and Cadbury Nigeria slumped by 9.52 per cent to N19.00.
The market witnessed a surge in activities during the trading day, with UBA emerging as the busiest after trading 93.7 million shares valued at N2.1 billion.
Transcorp sold 54.1 million equities for N692.2 million, Japaul exchanged 34.3 million stocks worth N657.7 million, Sterling Holdings transacted 28.5 million equities for N129.2 million, and Fidelity Bank traded 27.1 million stocks valued at N270.7 million.
When the closing bell was struck by 2:30 pm, a total of 543.0 million shares worth N8.7 billion had exchanged hands in 9,650 deals versus the 396.2 million shares valued at N5.8 billion traded in 10,549 deals on Wednesday, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 8.52 per cent and an increase in the trading volume and value by 37.05 per cent, and 50.00 per cent, respectively.
Modupe Gbadeyanka