By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further appreciated by 0.33 per cent on Tuesday on the back of sustained bargain-hunting in the banking space, which closed higher by 0.67 per cent, especially because of interest in GTCO, UBA, Access Holdings and others.
The sector was mainly responsible for the growth reported by the domestic bourse during the session, as the energy counter lost 1.03 per cent and the insurance index depreciated by 0.49 per cent, while the consumer goods and industrial goods sectors closed flat each.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 237.35 points to finish at 71,907.26 points compared with Monday’s 71,669.91 points, and the market capitalisation jumped by N130 billion to quote at N39.349 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N39.219 trillion.
Business Post observed that investors were cautious of the macroeconomic environment yesterday, resulting in a weak investor sentiment as the exchange ended with 24 price gainers and 25 price losers, implying a negative market breadth index.
Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank gained 9.79 per cent to trade at N2.13, SCOA Nigeria rose by 9.46 per cent to N1.62, DAAR Communications appreciated by 8.82 per cent to 37 Kobo, Royal Exchange increased its value by 8.47 per cent to 64 Kobo, and Neimeth grew by 7.89 per cent to N2.05.
However, Guinea Insurance fell by 10.00 per cent to 27 Kobo, Conoil shrank by 9.83 per cent to N78.00, Juli depreciated by 9.72 per cent to 65 Kobo, Omatek slumped by 8.75 per cent to 73 Kobo, and Thomas Wyatt declined by 8.13 per cent to N3.05.
A total of 319.6 million shares valued at N5.9 billion exchanged hands in 6,498 deals on Tuesday versus the 375.3 million shares worth N3.9 billion transacted in 7,011 deals on Monday, indicating an improvement in the trading value by 51.28 per cent, a decline in the trading volume by 14.84 per cent and a fall in the number of deals by 7.32 per cent.
Julius Berger was traders’ toast yesterday as it traded 42.5 million equities worth N1.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 23.0 million shares valued at N812.0 million, FCMB sold 22.9 million stocks for N155.1 million, GTCO exchanged 21.6 million shares for N849.3 million, and Access Holdings traded 18.8 million equities worth N380.1 million.
