Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited extended its rally on Friday by 0.10 per cent, following the upward price movement in UBA, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Ellah Lakes, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance and 12 others.
Business Post reports that apart from the energy index, which shed 0.02 per cent, and the industrial goods sector, which further closed flat for the second straight session, the three other key sectors closed higher.
Data from the local stock exchange revealed that the insurance counter appreciated by 0.67 per cent, the consumer goods sector improved by 0.64 per cent, and the banking space grew by 0.10 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 67.50 points to settle at 67,200.69 points compared with Thursday’s closing value of 67,133.19 points, and the market capitalisation gained N37 billion to close at N36.920 trillion versus the preceding day’s N36.883 trillion.
The market breadth index was positive yesterday as there were only 12 price losers, indicating a strong investor sentiment helped by sustained bargain-hunting in stocks with sound fundamentals.
University Press topped the gainers’ log after it chalked up 9.77 per cent to trade at N2.36, Ellah Lakes appreciated by 9.57 per cent to N4.35, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance rose by 9.52 per cent to N1.15, John Holt increased its value by 903 per cent to N1.57, and Thomas Wyatt jumped by 8.53 per cent to N2.80.
On the flip side, DAAR Communications led the losers’ table with a price depreciation of 8.70 per cent to sell at 21 Kobo, as FTN Cocoa lost 4.65 per cent to trade at N1.64. Caverton fell by 3.38 per cent to N1.43, Courteville shrank by 3.23 per cent to 60 Kobo, and Transcorp fell by 2.86 per cent to N6.12.
This newspaper observed that the level of activity waned during the last trading session of the week, with the trading volume, value and the number of deals down by 27.55 per cent, 8.70 per cent, and 9.65 per cent apiece.
This was after investors bought and sold 224.1 million equities worth N4.2 billion in 5,049 deals versus the 309.3 million equities valued at N4.6 billion transacted in 5,588 deals a day earlier.
The most active stock for the trading session was UBA, which exchanged 48.2 million units for N842.1 million, trailed by GTCO, which transacted 33.2 million units for N1.1 billion. Access Holdings traded 23.5 million units worth N371.8 million, Zenith Bank sold 13.0 million units for N415.1 million, and Transcorp traded 10.2 million units valued at N62.9 million.
