Nigerian Exchange Surges 0.99% as Investor Sentiment Improves

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session of the week at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a positive note, with a 0.99 per cent growth on Friday inspired by an improvement in investor sentiment.

Business Post reports that the local bourse ended with 29 appreciating stocks and 22 depreciating stocks, implying a positive market breadth index.

This was buoyed by the 1.05 per cent rise in the consumer goods sector and a 0.28 per cent upsurge in the banking counter, though the insurance index declined by 1.58 per cent, and the energy and industrial goods sectors closed flat.

MTN Nigeria ended the day as the best-performing equity after its value rose by 9.99 per cent to N221.40, and Dangote Sugar expanded by 9.98 per cent to N55.65. NASCON increased by 9.97 per cent to N52.40, Ikeja Hotels jumped by 9.87 per cent to N6.68, and Deap Capital soared by 8.62 per cent to 63 Kobo.

The worst-performing stock for the session was FTN Cocoa, which declined by 9.80 per cent to trade at N1.38, C&I Leasing lost 8.66 per cent to close at N3.48, Guinness Nigeria moderated by 8.39 per cent to N42.05, Guinea Insurance went down by 7.89 per cent to 35 Kobo, and ABC Transport waned by 7.69 per cent to 72 Kobo.

Traders transacted 358.1 million shares valued at N19.9 billion in 10,786 deals on Friday versus the 554.7 million shares valued at N17.7 billion in 9,708 deals on Thursday, indicating a decline in the trading volume by 35.44 per cent, a growth in the trading value by 12.43 per cent, and an increase in the number of deals by 11.10 per cent.

Transcorp closed the day as the most active equity for selling 92.9 million units worth N1.6 billion, Transcorp Power traded 30.5 million units worth N11.7 million, UBA exchanged 26.2 million units valued at N570.2 million, Access Holdings exchanged 23.3 million units worth N465.5 million, and GTCO sold 18.0 million units for N734.5 million.

At the close of business today, the All-Share Index (ASI) surged by 995.55 points to 101,330.85 points from 100,335.30 points, and the market capitalisation gushed by N563 billion to N57.294 trillion from N56.731 trillion.