Stock Investors Chalk up N437bn as Market Closes Green

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session of the week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a positive note, rising by 0.28 per cent.

Renewed bargain-hunting buoyed the bullish outcome yesterday, as investors are upbeat about next Monday’s much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.

During the trading day, the insurance space rose by 1.96 per cent, the consumer goods index expanded by 0.97 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 0.72 per cent, and the energy segment grew by 0.17 per cent, while the industrial goods counter closed flat.

Data from Customs Street showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 674.61 points to 243,052.74 points from 242,378.13 points, and the market capitalisation climbed by N437 billion to N157.587 trillion from N157.150 trillion.

Abbey Bank ended the day as the best-performing stock after it jumped by 10.00 per cent to N7.15, UPDC REIT improved by 10.00 per cent to N13.75, Omatek soared by 9.60 per cent to N1.37, Consolidated Hallmark surged by 9.06 per cent to N6.50, and Chams chalked up 8.90 per cent to trade at N3.67.

On the flip side, John Holt slipped by 10.00 per cent to N9.00, Austin Laz crashed by 9.55 per cent to N1.99, Royal Exchange depreciated by 9.09 per cent to 90 Kobo, UPDC shed 5.88 per cent to close at N3.20, and Secure Electronic Technology depleted by 4.41 per cent to N65 Kobo.

The busiest equity was Sterling Holdings, with a turnover of 98.8 million units worth N746.2 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 67.6 million units valued at N1.3 billion, Ellah Lakes traded 29.8 million units for N266.3 million, GTCO sold 29.5 million units worth N3.8 billion, and Mutual Benefits transacted 28.9 million units valued at N85.2 million.

In all, market participants traded 552.9 million units valued at N25.8 billion in 45,678 deals yesterday compared with the 1.4 billion units worth N27.1 billion transacted in 46,218 deals a day earlier. This indicated that the trading volume, value, and number of deals moderated by 60.51 per cent, 4.80 per cent, and 1.17 per cent, respectively.