Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed bargain-hunting in banking, consumer goods and industrial goods equities rescued the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited from the claws of the bears on Thursday.
The buying interest lifted Nigerian stocks by 0.13 per cent during the session as investors await the policy direction of the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 87.91 points to close at 66,570.19 points compared with the midweek’s 66,482.28 points, as the market capitalisation jumped by N141 billion to settle at N36.527 trillion versus Wednesday’s N36.386 trillion.
Business Post reports that the energy sector remained flat on Thursday as the insurance counter fell by 0.06 per cent, while the banking, consumer goods and industrial goods sectors appreciated by 0.44 per cent, 0.30 per cent, and 0.03 per cent, respectively.
The stock exchange was quite busy yesterday, with the trading volume, value and the number of deals rising by 54.27 per cent, 2.17 per cent, and 4.71 per cent apiece.
This was because investors bought and sold 1.0 billion shares worth N4.7 billion in 6,959 deals during the trading day compared with the 657.5 million shares worth N4.6 billion traded in 6,646 deals a day earlier.
Neimeth topped the activity chart on Thursday after it sold 657.1 million stocks for N985.7 million, Oando exchanged 75.2 million shares valued at N771.2 million, Universal Insurance transacted 47.2 million equities worth N11.2 million, Fidelity Bank traded 35.1 million shares valued at N288.1 million, and Sterling Holdings traded 24.4 million stocks worth N87.4 million.
Wema Bank was the best-performing equity yesterday as it expanded by 9.93 per cent to N4.65, Thomas Wyatt gained 9.74 per cent to trade at N2.14, Regency Alliance rose by 8.82 per cent to 37 Kobo, DAAR Communications improved by 8.70 per cent to 25 Kobo, and Royal Exchange grew by 8.70 per cent to 50 Kobo.
The worst-performing equity for the day was Champion Breweries, which lost 9.87 per cent to settle at N3.38, Chellerams shed 9.84 per cent to quote at N3.48, ABC Transport declined by 9.72 per cent to 65 Kobo, UPDC shrank by 8.57 per cent to N1.28, and McNichols dropped 7.69 per cent to trade at 60 Kobo.
Analysis showed that investor sentiment remained bullish on Thursday after the market breadth index closed positive with 24 price advancers and 19 price laggards.
