By Dipo Olowookere
For four straight sessions, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited finished in the green territory on Tuesday after a 0.08 per cent growth at the close of transactions.
The upward trajectory was sustained by the appreciation recorded in the energy index, 0.39 per cent, as a result of the strong appetite for Oando and other energy stocks.
The positive outcome came despite the profit-taking witnessed in the other key industries of the equity exchange during the trading day.
The insurance sector went down by 0.35 per cent, the consumer goods space declined by 0.30 per cent, the banking index weakened by 0.06 per cent and the industrial goods counter fell by 0.02 per cent.
However, when trading activities ended for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 79.79 points to settle at 96,873.74 points versus Monday’s 96,793.95 points and the market capitalisation increased by N46 billion to finish at N55.647 trillion compared with the previous day’s N55.601 trillion.
C&I Leasing, Guinea Insurance, and Industrial and Medical Gases topped the gainers’ chart yesterday after chalking up 10.00 per cent each to sell for N4.07, 55 Kobo, and N31.90, respectively, while Eterna rose by 9.90 per cent to N32.20, and eTranzact gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N6.15.
On the flip side, RT Briscoe depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N2.88, Abbey Mortgage Bank fell by 9.96 per cent to N2.53, Secure Electronic Technology declined by 9.72 per cent to 65 Kobo, McNichols crashed by 9.68 per cent to N1.40, and Tantalizers slumped by 9.23 per cent to 59 Kobo.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained bullish on Tuesday with 29 appreciating equities and 30 depreciating equities, representing a negative market breadth index.
Investors bought and sold 473.0 million shares valued at N10.4 billion in 12,532 deals, in contrast to the 498.1 million shares valued at N11.0 billion traded in 13,149 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 5.04 per cent, 5.46 per cent, and 4.69 per cent.
The most actively traded stock by volume yesterday was Access Holdings with 106.3 million units worth N2.0 billion, Oando transacted 46.9 million units valued at N4.3 million, Prestige Assurance exchanged 31.7 million units worth N16.6 million, UBA sold 20.2 million units valued at N486.8 million, and Transcorp traded 17.8 million units for N194.3 million.
Adedapo Adesanya