Local Stocks Recover 0.23% as Geregu Enjoy Investors’ Patronage

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rebounded by 0.23 per cent on Wednesday following renewed buying interests in some stocks, especially Geregu Power Plc, which completed a deal with a new investor.

The stock enjoyed investors’ patronage at the bourse during the midweek session as a result of the fresh equity investment, giving retail investors the confidence that something big may happen in the nearest future.

At the close of transactions, its share price rose by 10.00 per cent to N246.40, finishing as the best-performing stock. John Holt rose by 9.59 per cent to N1.60, Living Trust Mortgage Bank appreciated by 7.55 per cent to N2.85, University Press grew by 5.26 per cent to N2.00, and Veritas Kapital expanded by 5.00 per cent to 21 Kobo.

Unlike the preceding session, investor sentiment was strong as the market breadth was positive because the exchange finished with 18 price gainers and 11 price losers led by McNichols, which fell by 9.84 per cent to 55 Kobo.

Coronation Insurance slipped by 6.82 per cent to 41 Kobo, Royal Exchange went down by 6.67 per cent to 70 Kobo, Mutual Benefits declined by 5.88 per cent to 32 Kobo, and Chams lost 3.70 per cent to 26 Kobo.

Business Post reports that the banking and the consumer goods counters appreciated by 0.25 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively, yesterday, while the insurance space tripped by 0.79 per cent, with the energy and industrial goods sectors closing flat.

When the market wrapped up for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 126.22 points to settle at 54,315.53 points compared with the previous day’s 54,189.31 points, and the market capitalisation was up by N69 billion to close at N29.589 trillion versus Tuesday’s N29.520 trillion.

A total of 129.9 million shares worth N3.9 billion exchanged hands in 2,678 deals on Wednesday, in contrast to the 254.2 million shares worth N15.6 billion traded in 2,950 deals on Tuesday, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value and the number of deals by 48.90 per cent, 75.00 per cent, and 9.22 per cent, respectively.

AIICO Insurance was the busiest stock as it sold 16.2 million units, Zenith Bank traded 13.0 million units, GTCO exchanged 12.4 million units, Transcorp transacted 12.1 million units, and Courteville traded 10.7 million units.