By Dipo Olowookere
Local equities rebounded by 0.34 per cent on Wednesday on the back of buying pressure on a few energy stocks and others at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
According to data from the bourse, the bullish stance was attained despite profit-taking activities in the banking space amid plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to recapitalise the industry, leaving the market breadth index negative.
This was because the number of price losers was more than the price gainers at 39 and 19 apiece, indicating a weak investor sentiment.
Business Post reports that the energy counter grew by 6.06 per cent, the insurance sector appreciated by 1.17 per cent, the consumer goods index rose by 0.89 per cent, and the industrial goods sector closed flat, while the banking counter depreciated by 0.56 per cent.
Seplat topped the gainers’ chart yesterday after chalking up 10.00 per cent to close at N2,310.10, Meyer rose by 9.79 per cent to N3.59, Sunu Assurances improved by 9.56 per cent to N1.49, Nestle soared by 9.52 per cent to N1,150.00, and Consolidated Hallmark expanded by 9.24 per cent to N1.30.
On the flip side, Guinea Insurance found itself on top of the losers’ table after shedding 10.00 per cent to settle at 27 Kobo, Omatek lost 9.88 per cent to trade at 73 Kobo, Abbey Mortgage Bank lost 9.68 per cent to finish at N1.68, Neimeth dropped 9.45 per cent to end at N1.82, and Tantalizers crashed by 8.62 per cent to 53 Kobo.
The activity chart was dominated by financial shares, with GTCO trading 56.9 million units valued at N2.2 billion, and Transcorp exchanging 27.4 million units for N184.1 million.
Further, UBA transacted 21.5 million shares for N456.5 million, Secure Electronic Technology traded 20.7 million stocks worth N14.8 million, and Access Holdings sold 15.9 million equities for N285.7 million.
At the close of business, the trading value increased by 17.86 per cent, while the trading volume and the number of deals went down by 32.55 per cent and 19.14 per cent apiece.
A total of 360.6 million shares valued at N6.6 billion were transacted in 6,579 deals in the midweek session compared with the 534.6 million shares worth N5.6 billion traded in 8,136 deals on Tuesday.
At the sound of the closing gong at 2:30 pm yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) jumped by 242.29 points to 71,283.34 points from 71,041.05 points and the market capitalisation grew by N133 billion to N39.008 trillion from N38.875 trillion.
