Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The first trading session on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a positive note on Thursday after a 0.20 per cent appreciation at the close of transactions.
On Tuesday, the market surprisingly closed bearish despite strong investor sentiment, but this negative trend was reversed yesterday amid renewed interest in Nigerian stocks.
The insurance sector appreciated by 1.80 per cent, the banking index gained 0.98 per cent, the consumer goods space rose by 0.30 per cent, and the industrial goods counter improved by 0.12 per cent, while the energy sector closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 201.74 points to 99,832.25 points from 99,630.51 points and the market capitalisation expanded by N114 billion to N56.474 trillion from N56.360 trillion.
Investor sentiment remained bullish yesterday after the bourse ended with 30 price gainers and 17 price losers, representing a positive market breadth index.
Nigerian Breweries advanced by 10.00 per cent to N31.90, Unity Bank surged by 9.91 per cent to N1.22, NEM Insurance was elevated by 9.77 per cent to N9.55, Thomas Wyatt leapt by 9.43 per cent to N1.74 and UAC Nigeria jumped by 8.65 per cent to N14.45.
On the flip side, Ecobank lost 9.92 per cent to N21.35, DAAR Communications shrank by 8.77 per cent to 52 Kobo, C&I Leasing declined by 7.14 per cent to N2.60, RT Briscoe weakened by 5.08 per cent to 56 Kobo, and Custodian Investment also went down by 5.08 per cent to N9.35.
Business Post reports that traders bought and sold 502.6 million equities worth N8.7 billion in 9,686 deals on Thursday compared with the 849.0 million equities worth N16.6 billion traded in 8,064 deals in the preceding session, representing a rise in the number of deals by 20.11 per cent, and a fall in the trading volume and value by 40.80 per cent and 47.59 per cent, respectively.
Zenith Bank finished the day as the busiest stock after trading 71.2 million units for N2.5 billion, AIICO Insurance traded 67.3 million units worth N65.9 million, Access Holdings exchanged 58.5 million units valued at N1.1 billion, GTCO sold 46.9 million units for N2.0 billion, and UBA transacted 23.2 million units valued at N520.6 million.
