Nigerian Stocks Recover 0.29% Amid Weak Investor Sentiment

By Dipo Olowookere

After closing lower on Wednesday, Nigerian stocks rebounded by 0.29 per cent on Thursday on the back of bargain hunting in consumer goods equities, especially Dangote Sugar, NASCON and others.

Business Post reports that despite the growth posted by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited yesterday, investor sentiment was weak as the bourse finished with 25 price losers and 17 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth.

The consumer goods sector was the saviour of the exchange on Thursday as it gained 0.58 per cent, while the banking, energy, and insurance counters depreciated by 1.11 per cent, 0.25 per cent, and 0.09 per cent, respectively, with the industrial goods space closing flat.

Sunu Assurances gained 10.00 per cent to quote at 44 Kobo, Dangote Sugar appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N19.35, McNichols rose by 9.72 per cent to 79 Kobo, Geregu Power improved by 9.02 per cent to N325.00, and NASCON grew by 8.93 per cent to N12.20.

Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance lost 10.00 per cent to finish at 27 Kobo, Academy Press fell by 9.38 per cent to N1.16, Transcorp went down by 7.97 per cent to N1.27, Chams depleted by 7.14 per cent to 26 Kobo, and NGX Group declined by 6.55 per cent to N27.10.

Transcorp ended the trading session as the most traded stock after it exchanged 29.8 million units, Access Bank traded 18.7 million units, UAC Nigeria sold 14.0 million units, GTCO transacted 13.1 million units, and Zenith Bank traded 9.3 million units.

In all, the market recorded the sale of 206.1 million shares worth N3.3 billion in 4,385 deals compared with the 565.8 million shares worth N6.6 billion transacted a day earlier in 4,340 deals, showing an improvement in the number of deals by 1.04 per cent, and a decrease in the trading volume and value by 63.57 per cent and 50.00 per cent apiece.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 161.63 points to 55,670.24 points from 55,508.61 points, while the market capitalisation grew by N88 billion to N30.327 trillion from N30.239 trillion.