By Dipo Olowookere
Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed bullish on Thursday with a 0.85 per cent growth inspired by Oando, which appreciated by 10.00 per cent.
The company led the price gainers’ chart of 23 members yesterday after its share price closed at N5.17 compared with the preceding day’s N4.70.
Investors started to acquire the stock after the board informed the market of the reason behind the delay in filing its outstanding financial statements.
Academy Press gained 9.73 per cent to close at N1.24, SCOA Nigeria rose by 9.62 per cent to N1.14, Lasaco Assurance improved by 8.00 per cent to N1.08, while RT Briscoe gained 7.69 per cent to trade at 28 kobo.
On the flip side, the exchange ended the session with 19 price decliners led by Pharma Deko, which depreciated by 10.00 per cent to trade at N1.98.
Champion Breweries fell by 8.70 per cent to N2.10, Ikeja Hotel declined by 6.99 per cent to N1.33, Unity Bank depreciated by 3.77 per cent to 51 kobo, while Mutual Benefits decreased by 3.70 per cent to 26 kobo.
It was observed that the growth posted yesterday was triggered by the performances of the industrial goods, energy and insurance sectors, which grew by 2.68 per cent, 1.43 per cent and 0.19 per cent respectively, while the banking and consumer goods counters depreciated by 0.51 per cent and 0.18 per cent respectively.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 399.14 points to 47,329.80 points from 46,930.66 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N215 billion to N25.504 trillion from N25.289 trillion.
Business Post reports that Fidelity Bank was the most active stock on Thursday, trading 55.9 million units valued at N160.3 million, followed by FBN Holdings with a turnover of 28.0 million units worth N318.0 million.
GTCO exchanged 21.3 million stocks worth N585.0 million, Transcorp transacted 20.4 million equities valued at N23.1 million, while Oando traded 18.4 million shares valued at N92.5 million.
Cumulatively, investors traded a total of 346.7 million stocks worth N3.8 billion in 4,952 deals yesterday in contrast to the 435.0 million stocks worth N6.3 billion transacted in 5,878 deals a day earlier.
This implied that the volume of transactions fell by 20.29 per cent, the value of trades went down by 38.75 per cent and the number of deals depreciated by 15.75 per cent.
