By Dipo Olowookere
Fresh buy interest in Nigerian stocks further stretched the gains on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.31 per cent on Friday.
The interests were mainly from banking shares and others as the banking index grew by 0.90 per cent, the insurance sector appreciated by 0.85 per cent, the consumer goods counter improved by 0.38 per cent, while the energy space fell by 0.05 per cent, with the industrial goods sector closing flat.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) expanded by 156.03 points to settle at 50,045.83 points compared with the previous day’s 49,889.80 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N85 billion to close at N26.994 trillion compared with Thursday’s N26.909 trillion.
Sterling Bank was the most active stock during the session as it sold 93.7 million units worth N136.0 million, while Fidelity Bank exchanged 28.8 million units valued at N97.1 million. Fidson sold 13.9 million shares for N130.4 million, GTCO transacted 13.0 million equities worth N258.5 million, while Zenith Bank traded 12.4 million stocks valued at N266.5 million.
A total of 240.0 million shares worth N2.7 billion in 3,435 deals on the last trading day of the week compared with the 229.1 million shares worth N1.8 billion in 3,575 deals transacted in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 3.92 per cent and an improvement in the trading volume and value by 4.76 per cent and 53.00 per cent respectively.
The investor sentiment was strong as the market breadth ended positive after recording 10 price losers and 23 price gainers led by FCMB, which increased its value by 9.06 per cent to N3.49. Stanbic IBTC improved by 6.45 per cent to N33.00, eTranzact gained 6.00 per cent to finish at N2.65, Transcorp grew by 4.76 per cent to N1.10, while NPF Microfinance Bank rose by 4.52 per cent to N1.62.
On the flip side, McNichols lost 9.46 per cent to trade at 67 Kobo, RT Briscoe depreciated by 8.57 per cent to 32 Kobo, Chams fell by 7.14 per cent to 26 Kobo, Honeywell Flour went down by 4.53 per cent to N2.53, while UPDC declined by 2.86 per cent to N1.02.
