Dipo Olowookere
After closing in the negative territory for two straight sessions, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by 1.05 per cent on Thursday amid a renewed buying interest.
The bargain hunting increased the wealth of investors yesterday by N298 billion, leaving the market capitalisation of the platform at N28.721 trillion compared with the N28.423 trillion it closed on Wednesday.
As for the All-Share Index (ASI), it returned to the 53,000 mark yesterday after it expanded by 554.15 points to settle at 53,275.49 points compared with the previous day’s 52,721.34 points.
From the analysis of the performance of the key sectors of the market, it was observed that only the industrial goods index was green as it appreciated by 0.14 per cent.
The insurance space lost 1.33 per cent, the energy counter depleted by 0.79 per cent, the banking sector declined by 0.76 per cent, while the consumer goods index went down by 0.23 per cent.
This showed that the mood of the Nigerian market is still volatile as reflected in the market breadth, which was negative yesterday with 29 price decliners and 21 price risers led by Transcorp Hotels, which gained 9.89 per cent to sell at N5.89.
Beta Glass appreciated by 9.74 per cent to trade at N62.55, McNichols rose by 9.60 per cent to N1.94, Veritas Kapital went up by 9.52 per cent to 23 kobo, while Multiverse increased its share price by 9.09 per cent to 24 kobo.
Conversely, Conoil ended the day as the heaviest price loser, depreciating by 10.00 per cent to N28.35 and was followed by Eterna, which declined by 9.59 per cent to N6.60. Prestige Assurance fell by 9.09 per cent to 40 kobo, Chams lost 8.33 per cent to trade at 22 kobo, while Royal Exchange depreciated by 7.35 per cent to N1.26.
Business Post reports that the activity chart was mixed on Thursday as the trading volume and the number of deals went down by 55.14 per cent and 12.84 per cent apiece, while the trading value improved by 13.75 per cent.
Investors bought and sold 274.6 million equities worth N8.5 billion in 5,184 deals compared with the 612.0 million equities worth N7.4 billion transacted in 5,948 deals at the midweek session.
Transcorp was the most active yesterday as it sold 48.4 million shares for N61.4 million, MTN Nigeria transacted 20.6 million equities worth N5.5 billion, Conoil exchanged 14.3 million stocks for N409.1 million, GTCO traded 13.7 million shares worth N328.1 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 13.5 million equities valued at N162.5 million.
