By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further appreciated by 0.25 per cent on Wednesday despite the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) saying inflation for October 2023 rose by 27.33 per cent.
The stats office released the inflation figures for the month yesterday but this did not deter stock investors, who maintained their positive sentiment and continued to cherry-pick equities with sound fundamentals.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) reached a new high of 71,014.34 points after adding 173.62 points to the previous day’s 70,840.72 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation of Customs Street increased in the midweek session by N113 billion to settle at N39.054 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N38.941 trillion.
Investor sentiment remained bullish on Wednesday as the market breadth was positive with 39 price gainers and 19 price losers led by SCOA Nigeria, which depleted by 9.68 per cent to N1.12.
Sovereign Trust Insurance retreated by 8.82 per cent to 31 Kobo, Cornerstone Insurance shed 4.83 per cent to close at N1.38, Cadbury Nigeria weakened by 4.17 per cent to N13.80, and AIICO Insurance moderated by 4.05 per cent to 71 Kobo.
But Omatek and Oando gained 10.00 per cent each to close at 77 Kobo and N11.55 apiece, MeCure rose by 9.92 per cent to N5.21, C&I Leasing grew by 9.87 per cent to N4.12, and Meyer appreciated by 9.73 per cent to N3.27.
At the midweek session, investors transacted 297.4 million shares worth N6.2 billion in 6,172 deals versus the 327.4 million shares worth N3.4 billion traded in 6,533 deals on Tuesday, representing an increase in the trading value by 82.35 per cent, a decline in the trading volume by 9.16 per cent, and a 5.53 per cent fall in the number of deals.
Oando closed the session as the most active stock after exchanging 28.0 million units valued at N315.3 million, AIICO Insurance sold 23.0 million units worth N16.4 million, Japaul traded 20.4 million units valued at N38.4 million, Transcorp transacted 14.5 million units worth N88.3 million, and Consolidated Hallmark Insurance sold 14.2 million units for N14.6 million.
