NGX Index Rises 0.47% on Sustained Buying Pressure

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further appreciated by 0.47 per cent on Monday on the back of sustained buying pressure, especially in the energy sector.

This expanded the All-Share Index (ASI) by 181.18 points to 38,849.08 points from 38,667.90 points and increased the market capitalisation by N94 billion to N20.241 trillion from N20.147 trillion.

As earlier stated, the growth recorded yesterday was influenced by the interests of investors in energy equities and this caused the sector to appreciate by 2.24 per cent at the close of transactions.

The industrial goods counter rose by 0.30 per cent, the consumer goods space grew by 0.28 per cent, the banking index rose by 0.26 per cent, while the insurance sector lost 0.42 per cent.

When trading activities were paused for the session, Oando was the best-performing stock with a price appreciation of 9.82 per cent to finish at N4.36.

FTN Cocoa gained 9.76 per cent to sell at 45 kobo, Ardova rose by 9.75 per cent to N17.45, BOC Gases improved by 9.74 per cent to N8.45, while Livestock Feeds grew by 9.64 per cent to N2.16.

On the flip side, Universal Insurance ended the session as the worst-performing equity with a price depreciation of 9.09 per cent to trade at 20 kobo.

Linkage Assurance went down by 7.14 per cent to 65 kobo, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 6.90 per cent to 27 kobo, Africa Prudential declined by 6.52 per cent to N6.45, while Regency Alliance dropped 6.25 per cent to trade at 45 kobo.

Business Post reports that at the first trading session of this week, the activity chart was mixed with the trading volume rising by 7.08 per cent to 246.6 million units from 230.3 million units, the number of deals growing by 13.08 per cent to 4,676 deals from 4,135 deals and the trading value depreciating by 2.97 per cent to N2.2 billion from N2.3 billion.

Fidelity Bank was the busiest stock on Monday, transacting 30.6 million units worth N73.8 million and was trailed by Access Bank, which exchanged 14.7 million units valued at N136.7 million.

UBA traded 13.8 million shares worth N108.7 million, GTCO transacted 12.8 million stocks for N378.3 million, while Wema Bank sold 11.3 million equities valued at N9.8 million.