Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
For the third straight trading session in 2024, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended in the green territory after gaining 0.62 per cent at the close of business on Thursday.
The bullish run was influenced by renewed interest in Nigerian stocks because of its performance last year, with the market chalking up 45 per cent in 2023.
Yesterday, the buying pressure continued across the major sectors, with the insurance index expanding by 2.62 per cent and the energy space growing by 0.73 per cent.
In addition, the consumer goods counter appreciated by 0.55 per cent, and the banking sector improved by 0.13 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of trading activities, the All-Share Index (ASI) jumped by 482.97 points to 78,020.54 points from 77,537.57 points and the market capitalisation gained N264 billion to finish at N42.694 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N42.430 trillion.
Like the previous market day, the activity chart was in green after investors traded 984.2 million stocks worth N11.2 billion in 12,976 deals versus the 927.6 million stocks worth N10.7 billion traded in 11,629 deals on Wednesday, indicating a rise in the trading volume, value and the number of deals by 6.10 per cent, 4.67 per cent, and 11.58 per cent, respectively.
The busiest equity for the session was FCMB, which transacted 106.8 million units valued at N957.5 million, Fidelity Bank traded 103.1 million units worth N1.3 billion, Unity Bank exchanged 75.8 million units valued at N156.3 million, Sterling Holdings sold 71.6 million units worth N373.2 million, and Universal Insurance traded 43.7 million units for N12.8 million.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained strong on Thursday after the market breadth index ended on a positive note with 48 price advancers and 23 price laggards.
Wema Bank and Learn Africa improved their share prices by 10.00 per cent each to N6.71 and N3.19, respectively, as Transcorp rose by 9.93 per cent to N11.51, Ikeja Hotels leapt by 9.92 per cent to N7.98, and Sterling Holdings soared by 9.83 per cent to N5.25.
On the flip side, Multiverse dropped 9.97 per cent to N20.22, Meyer fell by 9.75 per cent to N3.24, Tripple Gee deflated by 9.30 per cent to N1.95, John Holt receded by 8.62 per cent to N2.12, and ABC Transport moderated by 8.25 per cent to 89 Kobo.
