Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading day of the week at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended in a positive note, with the performance indicators further rising by 0.04 per cent on Friday.
Sustained buying pressure and a very strong investor sentiment ensured that Customs Street maintained its upward trajectory yesterday.
Data from the exchange showed that there were 33 price gainers and 13 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index.
VDF Group topped the advancers’ table after its value expanded by 9.97 per cent to N202.90, MeCure rose by 9.80 per cent to N3.92, Meyer improved by 9.72 per cent to N2.71, FCMB chalked up 9.38 per cent to close at N7.00, and Regency Alliance appreciated by 9.38 per cent to close at 35 Kobo.
On the flip side, Caverton shed 9.52 per cent to trade at N1.33, eTranzact lost 4.43 per cent to close at N7.55, Cutix depreciated by 3.93 per cent to N2.20, Fidelity Bank went down by 3.68 per cent to N9.15, and Veritas Kapital declined by 3.57 per cent to 27 Kobo.
Business Post reports that the bargain-hunting during the session left the energy index up by 0.86 per cent, as the consumer goods and the banking sectors went up by 0.05 per cent and 0.03 per cent apiece, while the insurance shrank by 0.04 per cent, and the industrial goods counter closed flat.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 29.80 points to 70,849.38 points from 70,819.58 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N14 billion to close at N38.925 trillion versus the previous day’s N38.911 trillion.
The number of shares transacted yesterday at the stock exchange depreciated by 2.20 per cent to 556.7 million units from 569.2 million, and the value of stocks traded declined by 66.67 per cent to N5.6 billion from N16.8 billion, while the number of transactions increased by 2.25 per cent to 6,308 deals from 6,169 deals.
The capital raise of N20 billion by Japaul is triggering demand for the stocks, closing yesterday as the most active after selling 164.7 million units for N317.7 million.
Universal Insurance traded 101.4 million shares valued at N25.3 million, UBA transacted 61.6 million equities worth N1.3 billion, FCMB sold 39.7 million stocks for N275.1 million, and Fidelity Bank exchanged 24.9 million shares valued at N230.1 million.
