By Dipo Olowookere
The nation’s stock exchange reversed the loss posted on Tuesday to close higher by 0.13 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain hunting by investors.
The positive outcome was partly triggered by the release of the audited financial statements of Ecobank to the market yesterday, with a significant number of cross deals witnessed at the close of business.
The All-Share Index (ASI) increased during the session by 61.39 points to close at 46,904.48 points compared with the previous day’s 46,843.09 points, while the market capitalisation went up by N33 billion to finish at N25.279 trillion in contrast to N25.246 trillion it ended on Tuesday.
Business Post reports that despite the growth achieved at the midweek session, the market breadth remained negative as there were 16 price losers and 17 price gainers.
The duo of Ikeja Hotel and Cornerstone Insurance gained 10.00 per cent each to close at N1.32 and 66 kobo respectively, while Eterna rose by 9.82 per cent to N5.48, Meyer increased by 9.09 per cent to 60 kobo, and Chams improved by 5.00 per cent to 21 kobo.
On the flip side, Cadbury Nigeria suffered the heaviest loss with a decline of 6.67 per cent to settle at N8.40, Japaul lost 5.88 per cent to trade at 32 kobo, PZ Cussons depleted by 5.36 per cent to N10.60, Royal Exchange fell by 5.22 per cent to N1.09, while Coronation Insurance decreased by 4.17 per cent to 46 kobo.
It was observed that the sectorial performance was mixed on Wednesday with the banking, consumer goods and industrial goods sectors declining by 0.60 per cent, 0.15 per cent and 0.03 per cent respectively, and the insurance and energy counters growing by 0.62 per cent and 0.27 per cent respectively.
As for the activity chart, it was also mixed as the trading value rose by 46.39 per cent, while the trading volume and the number of deals depreciated by 6.09 per cent and 2.62 per cent respectively.
A total of 201.3 million shares valued at N2.6 billion exchanged hands yesterday in 4,017 deals in contrast to the 214.3 million shares worth N1.8 billion transacted in 4,125 deals on Tuesday.
Ecobank was the most active stock at the market on Wednesday as it traded 61.9 million units valued at N742.0 million, followed by Access Holdings, which sold 29.5 million units worth N294.9 million.
Zenith Bank transacted 15.8 million equities for N361.8 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 11.4 million shares for N35.6 million, while Transcorp traded 9.8 million stocks worth N9.8 million.
