By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) further appreciated by 0.34 per cent on Wednesday as buying interest in MTN Nigeria and some banking stocks by investors persisted.
MTN Nigeria had earlier this week announced receiving final approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide financial services to Nigerians.
This triggered interest in the company’s shares as investors believe, going by the pedigree of the telco, it will not take long before it becomes a force to reckon with in the sector, translating into more income streams for the organisation and eventually more dividends to shareholders.
The buying pressure on the stock and others contributed to the growth printed by the bourse yesterday as the All-Share Index (ASI) jerked up by 162.28 points to 47,367.31 points from 47,205.03 points, while the market capitalisation went up by N87 billion to N25.536 trillion from N25.449 trillion.
Business Post reports that GTCO ended the session as the most traded stock at the midweek session, selling a total of 65.9 million units valued at N1.6 billion.
Zenith Bank transacted 43.9 million shares for N1.1 billion, UBA traded 28.9 million equities worth N235.7 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 28.5 million stocks valued at N106.5 million, while MTN Nigeria sold 22.8 million equities for N4.8 billion.
When the market closed for the day, a total of 391.9 million stocks worth N10.0 billion exchanged hands in 5,419 deals as against the 245.4 million stocks worth N4.6 billion transacted in 5,832 deals on Tuesday, implying an increase in the trading volume and value respectively by 59.68 per cent and 117.27 per cent and a decline in the number of deals by 7.08 per cent.
On the price movement table, Meyer was the best-performing stock, rising by 9.56 per cent to N1.49, followed by Ikeja Hotel, which gained 9.24 per cent to trade at N1.30.
Caverton appreciated by 6.78 per cent to N1.26, Union Bank improved its share price by 6.56 per cent to N6.50, while FTN Cocoa expanded its value by 6.45 per cent to 33 kobo.
Conversely, Sunu Assurances was the worst-performing equity during the session as it fell by 7.69 per cent to 36 kobo, Sterling Bank depreciated by 6.00 per cent to N1.41, Unilever Nigeria dropped 4.51 per cent to N12.70, Coronation Insurance declined by 4.44 per cent to 43 kobo, while United Capital lost 3.97 per cent to sell for N13.30.
As for the sectoral performance, the insurance sector lost 0.18 per cent, the industrial goods index closed flat, while the banking, consumer goods and energy counters appreciated by 0.56 per cent, 0.03 per cent and 0.03 per cent respectively.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka