By Dipo Olowookere
The All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by 1.25 per cent or 592.85 points to 48,138.71 points on Wednesday from the 47,545.86 points it closed on Tuesday.
It was the highest level the NGX index has reached in 13 years amid renewed interest in Nigerian stocks as investors look forward to good first-quarter results from companies on the exchange.
Business Post reports that sterling performance achieved yesterday expanded the market capitalisation of the bourse by N319 billion to settle at N25.952 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N25.633 trillion.
However, the trading data showed that the volume of shares transacted by investors at the midweek session went down by 4.35 per cent to 349.6 million stocks from 365.5 million stocks, the value of equities exchanged by market participants declined by 47.94 per cent to N3.7 billion from N7.1 billion, while the number of deals decreased by 20.78 per cent to 4,587 deals from 5,790 deals.
A breakdown showed that Universal Insurance ended as the busiest stock with the sale of 73.1 million units worth N14.6 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 23.7 million units valued at N571.5 million, Fidelity Bank sold 20.7 million units for N80.0 million, UBA traded 20.1 million units valued at N160.5 million, while Mutual Benefits transacted 16.4 million units worth N4.0 million.
It was observed that the market breadth closed positive with 28 price gainers and 21 price losers, indicating a positive investor sentiment.
Japaul and Eterna were the best-performing stocks, appreciating each by 10.00 per cent to trade at 33 kobo and N5.50 respectively. Guinness Nigeria rose by 9.96 per cent to N82.25, Meyer gained 9.66 per cent to sell for N1.93, while Coronation Insurance improved its share price by 9.52 per cent to 46 kobo.
Conversely, Union Dicon ended the session as the worst-performing stock as its value went down by 9.60 per cent to N8.95. CWG depleted by 9.28 per cent to 88 kobo, John Holt dropped 8.97 per cent to sell for 71 kobo, Regency Assurance decreased by 8.57 per cent to 32 kobo, while Sunu Assurances declined by 8.33 per cent to 33 kobo.
In terms of the performance of the five major sectors of the trading platform, the banking and insurance indices fell by 2.45 per cent and 0.26 per cent respectively, while the energy, consumer goods and industrial goods counters appreciated by 2.98 per cent, 2.06 per cent and 0.98 per cent apiece.
