By Dipo Olowookere
Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended bullish on Monday as the bourse appreciated by 0.04 per cent at the close of business.
The banking segment was the major driver of the growth posted by the NGX yesterday, with investors showing interest in stocks in the sector.
When the market closed for the session, its index grew by 0.47 per cent, as the industrial goods sector rose by 0.04 per cent, while the insurance counter fell by 0.61 per cent, with the consumer goods and the energy sectors closing flat.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 17.15 points to settle at 48,899.08 points compared with the previous session’s 48,881.93 points, while the market capitalisation gained N9 billion to end at N26.634 trillion versus last Friday’s N26.625 trillion.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment was weak on the first trading session of the week as the exchange recorded 12 price losers and 10 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth.
Learn Africa appreciated by 9.70 per cent to N1.81, Jaiz Bank rose by 9.20 per cent to 95 Kobo, SCOA Nigeria improved by 8.86 per cent to 86 Kobo, Sunu Assurances grew by 7.14 per cent to 30 Kobo, and Japaul increased by 3.70 per cent to 28 Kobo.
Conversely, Royal Exchange suffered the heaviest loss as its value dropped 9.88 per cent to 73 Kobo. Neimeth fell by 8.57 per cent to N1.28, Axa Mansard waned by 4.52 per cent to N1.90, Courteville depreciated by 2.17 per cent to 45 Kobo, and UPDC dwindled by 2.17 per cent to 90 Kobo.
The most active stock on Monday was Access Holdings, which sold 121.0 million units of its equities. Jaiz Bank traded 19.0 million stocks, GTCO exchanged 17.2 million shares, FBN Holdings transacted 12.0 million equities, and FCMB traded 8.6 million stocks.
At the close of business, investors bought and sold 236.6 million shares worth N2.5 billion in 3,334 deals, in contrast to the 100.8 million shares worth N1.1 billion traded in 2,440 deals in the previous session, indicating an improvement in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 134.72 per cent, 127.27 per cent, and 36.64 per cent, respectively.
