Market Jumps 0.35% as Investors Buy Dangote Cement, GTCO, MTN Stocks

By Dipo Olowookere

It was a positive outcome at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Wednesday as the key performance indicators appreciated by 0.35 per cent at the close of business.

Buying pressure on some large-cap equities like Dangote Cement, GTCO, MTN Nigeria, and Zenith Bank offset the selling pressure on Lafarge Africa, FBN Holdings, UBA and Dangote Sugar.

At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 197.20 points to settle at 55,801.14 points versus Tuesday’s 55,603.94 points, as the market capitalisation grew by N108 billion to N30.398 trillion from N30.290 trillion.

Analysis of the sectorial performance showed that the industrial goods index improved by 0.84 per cent, the insurance space gained 0.16 per cent, and the banking counter appreciated by 0.06 per cent, while the energy and the consumer goods indices depreciated by 0.90 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively.

However, the market breadth was at equilibrium yesterday as a result of the gainers’ and losers’ charts having 18 members apiece.

Trams Nationwide Express was the best-performing stock during the session as it rose by 9.88 per cent to trade at 89 Kobo, Cutix appreciated by 8.50 per cent to N2.17, FTN Cocoa improved by 7.69 per cent to 28 Kobo, Sovereign Trust Insurance jumped by 7.14 per cent to 30 Kobo, and Honeywell Flour chalked up 6.39 per cent to sell at N2.33.

On the flip side, MRS Oil ended the midweek session as the worst-performing stock after it depreciated by 9.98 per cent to close at N27.95, ABC Transport lost 7.89 per cent to quote at 35 Kobo, Chams shed 7.41 per cent to 25 Kobo, Ardova decreased by 6.20 per cent to N17.40, and Royal Exchange declined by 5.33 per cent to 71 Kobo.

During the session, investors traded 152.7 million shares valued at N3.6 billion in 3,293 deals versus the 159.5 million shares valued at N2.5 billion traded in 4,187 deals on Tuesday, indicating a decline in the trading volume and the number of deals by 4.26 per cent and 21.35 per cent apiece and an increase in the trading value by 44.00 per cent.

Courteville finished the session as the most active stock after it transacted 34.6 million units, UBA sold 15.0 million units, GTCO exchanged 12.8 million units, Axa Mansard traded 8.3 million units, and Dangote Cement transacted 7.3 million units.