Local Stock Market Records First Gain in Seven Sessions

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rebounded by 0.22 per cent on Tuesday after being in the red territory for the past six straight trading days.

It was the first gain the local stock market was recording in seven sessions as a result of persistent profit-taking by investors.

The growth achieved yesterday was due to bargain-hunting in some banking stocks, especially UBA, FBN Holdings, Zenith Bank, and Access Holdings.

Data showed that the banking index rose by 3.16 per cent and the energy counter appreciated by 1.55 per cent as a result of the price appreciation in Conoil.

However, the insurance sector weakened by 1.33 per cent, the industrial goods space fell by 0.06 per cent, and the consumer goods counter depreciated by 0.05 per cent.

When trading activities ended for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 215.63 per cent to 97,123.61 points from 96,907.98 points and the market capitalisation was up by N131 billion to N58.852 trillion from N58.721 trillion.

Investor sentiment was bullish on Tuesday after the bourse ended with 26 appreciating equities and 21 depreciating equities, indicating a positive market breadth index.

Conoil chalked up 9.93 per cent to trade at N208.10, John Holt improved by 9.92 per cent to N3.99, UBA jumped by 9.87 per cent to N35.05, Eunisell grew by 9.87 per cent to N6.79, and PZ Cussons gained 8.48 per cent to sell for N24.95.

Conversely, Oando lost 9.98 per cent to finish at N72.65, DAAR Communications declined by 9.68 per cent to 56 Kobo, Regency Assurance waned by 6.52 per cent to 43 Kobo, Veritas Kapital tumbled by 6.25 per cent to N1.20, and Guinea Insurance slumped by 4.26 per cent to 45 Kobo.

Investors bought and sold 3.6 billion shares worth N25.6 billion in 10,679 deals during the session compared with the 1.2 billion shares worth N14.2 billion traded in 10,386 deals on Monday, representing a rise in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 191.67 per cent, 80.28 per cent, and 2.82 per cent, respectively.

The most traded stock for the day was Sovereign Trust Insurance with the sale of 2.5 billion units for N1.4 billion, NEM Insurance transacted 563.8 million units valued at N4.0 billion, UBA exchanged 202.0 million units worth N6.7 billion, Zenith Bank traded 46.4 million units worth N2.0 billion, and Veritas Kapital sold 34.7 million units for N42.0 million.