By Dipo Olowookere
A renewed buying interest in Nigerian stocks pushed the benchmark index higher by 0.03 per cent on Thursday, which was the last trading day in June.
Business Post observed that investors showed interest in equities in the financial services sector and a pocket of bargain-hunting in energy and consumer goods stocks.
This propelled the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited higher by 13.61 points to 51,817.59 points from 51,803.98 points as the market capitalisation expanded by N7 billion to N27.935 trillion from N27.928 trillion.
A total of 20 stocks gained points yesterday, with University Press leading after it grew by 9.79 per cent to N2.58. McNichols rose by 9.73 per cent to N2.03, Cornerstone Insurance appreciated by 9.09 per cent to 72 Kobo, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance improved by 8.96 per cent to 73 Kobo, while John Holt expanded by 8.70 per cent to 75 Kobo.
According to data from the bourse, 18 equities shed weight during the session, with PZ Cussons leading after it dropped 9.86 per cent to N1.05. Tripple Gee went down by 8.42 per cent to 87 Kobo, Prestige Assurance depleted by 7.50 per cent to 37 Kobo, Honeywell Flour retreated by 7.07 per cent to N2.76, while RT Briscoe fell by 6.38 per cent to 44 Kobo.
FBN Holdings was the most active stock on Thursday as it transacted 36.6 million shares valued at N424.1 million, Transcorp traded 26.5 million stocks for N32.6 million, UBA exchanged 17.5 million equities valued at N130.5 million, GTCO sold 15.2 million shares worth N310.1 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 14.1 million stocks worth N305.1 million.
In all, traders bought and sold a total of 223.1 million equities valued at N3.9 billion in 4,213 deals compared with the 416.5 million shares worth N3.5 billion transacted on Wednesday in 4,466 deals.
A look at the performance of the key sectors showed that the energy, insurance and banking counters grew by 0.42 per cent, 0.41 per cent and 0.28 per cent respectively, while the consumer goods and industrial goods sectors depreciated by 0.21 per cent and 0.15 per cent apiece.
