Nigerian Exchange Rebounds by 0.20% on Renewed Bargain Hunting

By Dipo Olowookere

Renewed bargain hunting triggered a 0.20 per cent rebound on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday as investors look forward to Monday’s swearing-in of Mr Bola Tinubu as the next President of Nigeria.

Investor sentiment improved yesterday as the stock exchange finished with 42 price gainers and 11 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index.

NASCON topped the gainers’ chart after it appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N15.40, Conoil rose by 9.98 per cent to N47.95, NEM Insurance improved by 9.95 per cent to N4.75, NCR Nigeria increased by 9.68 per cent to N3.06, and FTN Cocoa chalked up 9.68 per cent to 68 Kobo.

On the flip side, Sovereign Trust Insurance lost 7.69 per cent to finish at 36 Kobo, Mutual Benefits depreciated by 5.56 per cent to 34 Kobo, NGX Group declined by 4.04 per cent to N27.35, Royal Exchange depleted by 4.00 per cent to 48 Kobo, and Tantalizers fell by 3.85 per cent to 25 Kobo.

The insurance counter recorded the biggest gain during the session after it closed 2.40 per cent higher, the banking sector rose by 2.14 per cent, the energy index rose by 1.05 per cent, the consumer goods counter expanded by 0.41 per cent, while the industrial goods sector depreciated by 0.88 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 152.28 points to 52,973.88 points from 52,821.60 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N83 billion to N28.845 trillion from N28.762 trillion.

During the session, investors transacted 461.8 million stocks worth N7.7 billion in 6,520 deals compared with the 377.1 million stocks worth N9.2 billion traded in 5,879 deals on Thursday, representing a decline in the trading value by 16.30 per cent and an increase in the trading volume and the number of deals by 22.46 per cent, and 10.90 per cent apiece.

UBA sold the most stocks on Friday (59.4 million units), Access Holdings traded 51.5 million shares, Zenith Bank exchanged 50.0 million equities, GTCO traded 41.0 million stocks, and Transcorp transacted 29.7 million shares.