By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rebounded by a marginal 0.08 per cent on Friday on the back of a bullish market sentiment supported by renewed buying pressure.
Investors showed fresh interest in Nigerian stocks after reviewing the decision of the Supreme Court on Thursday to validate the presidency of Mr Bola Tinubu.
When the judgment was given, the stock market reacted to it in a bad way, but investors had to move on, giving President Tinubu a chance to prove himself for the next four years when another election is expected.
At the close of trades yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) moved up by 51.63 points to 67,136.58 points from 67,084.95 points and the market capitalisation increased by N28 billion to N36.885 trillion from N36.857 trillion.
Business Post reports that the energy index appreciated on the last trading session of the week by 2.31 per cent, the insurance counter rose by 1.13 per cent, and the banking sector grew by 0.59 per cent, while the consumer goods space lost 0.25 per cent, and the industrial goods sector shed 0.05 per cent.
There were 32 price gainers and 23 price losers at the close of transactions on Friday, indicating a positive market breadth index and a strong investor sentiment.
Japual, Red Star Express, Omatek, Berger Paints and eTranzact all gained 10.00 per cent each to settle at 99 Kobo, N3.30, 44 Kobo, N13.20, and N7.70, respectively.
Conversely, Academy Press depreciated by 9.90 per cent to N1.73, RT Briscoe weakened by 9.09 per cent to 50 Kobo, DAAR Communications slumped by 8.70 per cent to 21 Kobo, McNichols dropped 8.20 per cent to sell at 56 Kobo, and Nigerian Breweries crumbled by 5.13 per cent to N36.05.
The activity chart showed that investors traded 214.2 million equities worth N5.2 billion in 5,325 deals during the session versus the 267.7 million equities worth N5.1 billion traded in 5,205 deals on Thursday, representing a decline in the trading volume by 19.99 per cent, an increase in the trading value by 1.96 per cent, and a 2.31 per cent growth in the number of deals.
Transcorp ended as the most active stock for trading 24.3 million units valued at N150.6 million, Fidelity Bank sold 16.7 million units for N137.6 million, Japual exchanged 16.2 million units valued at N16.0 million, UBA transacted 15.5 million units worth N293.0 million, and Chams traded 15.0 million units valued at N29.4 million.
