Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited maintained its bullish run on Monday with a 0.17 per cent growth as investors were impressed with the already-released first-quarter results of a few companies.
Nigerian Breweries, particularly, recorded a significant increase in revenue and profits and it was not surprising that investors quickly took position, causing it to appreciate by 9.86 per cent at the close of transactions.
Analysis of the trading data by Business Post showed that the market breadth closed bullish with 43 appreciating stocks and 16 depreciating stocks, indicating a very strong positive investor sentiment.
UPDC REIT was the best-performing stock as it gained 10.00 per cent to sell for N3.85, Ikeja Hotel rose by 9.92 per cent to N1.55, Eterna appreciated by 9.92 per cent to N7.31, Oando grew by 9.90 per cent to N6.44, while Skyway Aviation went up by 9.89 per cent to N7.00.
On the flip side, Unity Bank ended the session as the worst-performing stock, losing 6.00 per cent to trade at 47 kobo, Academy Press went down by 5.98 per cent to N1.10, Japaul fell by 5.88 per cent to 32 kobo, UPDC declined by 4.49 per cent to 85 kobo, while Coronation Insurance depreciated by 4.35 per cent to 44 kobo.
During the trading day, Zenith Bank recorded the highest trading volume with the sale of 35.8 million units worth N912.2 million, Oando traded 30.8 million units valued at N198.3 million, Axa Mansard exchanged 23.1 million units worth N58.7 million, Transcorp sold 20.7 million units valued at N22.3 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 20.1 million units worth N240.0 million.
At the close of business, investors traded 328.4 million shares worth N4.0 billion in 5,711 deals compared with the 342.1 million shares worth N3.9 billion transacted in 4,976 deals in the preceding session. This showed that the trading volume went down by 4.02 per cent, while the trading value and the number of deals jumped by 4.74 per cent and 14.77 per cent respectively.
It was observed that the industrial goods index fell by 1.10 per cent despite the buying pressure on Nigerian stocks yesterday, while the consumer goods, energy, insurance and banking sectors rose by 2.45 per cent, 1.44 per cent, 0.39 per cent and 0.34 per cent respectively.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) expanded by 83.71 points to 48,543.36 points from 48,459.65 points, while the market capitalisation rose by N45 billion to N26.170 trillion from N26.125 trillion.
