By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited maintained stability on Thursday as it gained an additional 1.51 per cent at the close of transactions after undergoing a turbulent period in the past sessions.
Business Post reports that renewed interest in financial stocks and others contributed to the lifting of the spirits of traders yesterday as they perused price-sensitive information released during the session to make investment decisions.
Yesterday, the market reacted to the dividend information from Zenith Bank, and also during the session, Oando announced the decision of one of its core investors to take up the stakes held by minority shareholders in the organisation.
As a result, Oando ended on top of the gainers’ chart after it gained 9.98 per cent to close at N5.40 and was trailed by Sunu Assurances, which grew by 9.09 per cent to 48 Kobo. MTN Nigeria rose by 8.89 per cent to N240.00, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance improved by 8.77 per cent to 62 Kobo, and Royal Exchange chalked up 8.70 per cent to sell at 75 Kobo.
On the flip side, PZ Cussons topped the losers’ table after it fell by 5.88 per cent to N11.20, Chams dropped 4.17 per cent to quote at 23 Kobo, Unilever Nigeria declined by 3.57 per cent to N13.50, Japaul went down by 3.45 per cent to 28 Kobo, and AIICO Insurance decreased by 3.33 per cent to 58 Kobo.
The market breadth was bullish yesterday, with 23 price gainers and 10 price losers, indicating a strong investor sentiment.
This was also reflected in the sectorial performance, as only the consumer goods index finished lower out of the key sectors monitored. It went down by 0.02 per cent.
The banking space expanded by 1.00 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 0.55 per cent, and the industrial goods sector finished 0.02 per cent higher, while the energy index remained flat.
Data showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 809.41 points to 54,413.21 points from 53,603.80 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N441 billion to N29.642 trillion from N29.201 trillion.
A total of 973.6 million stocks valued at N4.2 billion exchanged hands in 3,718 deals on Thursday compared with the 236.1 million shares worth N3.3 billion transacted in 3,906 deals on Thursday, representing a decline in the number of deals by 4.81 per cent, an improvement in the trading volume by 312.37 per cent, and a rise in the trading value by 27.27 per cent.
Transcorp, Living Trust Mortgage Bank, Fidelity Bank, UBA, and Zenith Bank closed the session as the most active stocks after trading 455.5 million units, 254.8 million units, 143.4 million units, 16.1 million units, and 14.0 million units, respectively.
