Stock Exchange Rebounds by 0.42% as Airtel, NB, Eterna, Others Gain

By Dipo Olowookere

The domestic stock exchange returned to the bulls’ territory on Tuesday after a brief dominance of the bears a day earlier triggered by profit-taking.

Yesterday, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed higher by 0.42 per cent, following bargain hunting in oil, tech and a few financial stocks by investors.

The renewed confidence resulted in strong investor sentiment, with the market breadth index on the positive wing after 28 stocks appreciated in price, as 24 equities closed bearish.

eTranzact gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N4.40, Eterna improved by 9.85 per cent to N11.15, Cornerstone Insurance rose by 9.52 per cent to 92 Kobo, Pharma Deko increased its value by 9.52 per cent to N2.07, and FTN Cocoa expanded by 9.23 per cent to 71 Kobo.

Conversely, John Holt lost 9.88 per cent to quote at N1.55, Multiverse depreciated by 9.54 per cent to N3.70, Chellaram shed 9.52 per cent to N1.33, Omatek dwindled by 9.09 per cent to 20 Kobo, and Sunu Assurances fell by 8.33 per cent to 44 Kobo.

At the close of market yesterday, the energy index gained 1.02 per cent, the insurance space jumped by 0.57 per cent, the consumer goods sector appreciated by 0.21 per cent, while the banking and the industrial goods counters declined by 0.05 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively.

Business Post reports that the bulls helped the All-Share Index (ASI) gain 232.14 points on Tuesday, closing at 56,038.85 points compared with the preceding day’s 55,806.71 points.

In the same vein, the market capitalisation of the NGX increased by N127 billion to settle at N30.514 trillion, in contrast to Monday’s closing value of N30.387 trillion.

The activity chart was in red yesterday after traders transacted 322.5 million shares worth N5.8 billion in 6,165 deals compared with the 369.8 million shares worth N19.8 billion in 7,221 deals a day earlier, implying a decline in the trading volume, value, and the number of deals by 12.79 per cent, 70.71 per cent, and 14.62 per cent apiece.

UBA dominated the market during the session as it traded 47.1 million equities valued at N442.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 39.9 million stocks worth N501.8 million, GTCO sold 30.2 million shares for N846.9 million, Fidelity Bank traded 23.8 million shares valued at N137.3 million, and Japaul transacted 16.8 million stocks worth N6.7 million.