Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigerian stock market indices appreciated by 0.61 per cent on Thursday, buoyed by bargain-hunting across the major sectors of the exchange.
It was observed that investors took their eyes away from the risks in the political scene and quickly mopped up shares trading at relatively lower prices.
This resulted in the uptick in the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 330.85 points to 54,646.38 points from 54,315.53 points, as the market capitalisation increased by N180 billion to N29.769 trillion from N29.589 trillion.
Business Post reports that the consumer goods outperformed the others yesterday as it closed higher by 3.79 per cent due to interest in BUA Foods and Nigerian Breweries.
The insurance counter appreciated by 0.40 per cent, the banking and the energy indices improved by 0.39 per cent each, while the industrial goods sector grew by 0.06 per cent.
The market breadth reflected the mood of investors during the session as it ended in the positive zone after housing 28 price gainers and 10 price losers, indicating a very strong investor sentiment.
MRS Oil was the best-performing equity because it gained 9.88 per cent to trade at N27.80, McNichols grew by 9.09 per cent to 60 Kobo, BUA Foods rose by 8.87 per cent to N81.00, Cornerstone Insurance expanded by 8.33 per cent to 65 Kobo, and Transcorp Hotels climbed higher by 7.44 per cent to N6.50.
On the flip side, The Initiates finished the session as the worst-performing stock on Thursday due to the 9.09 per cent loss it printed to quote at 40 Kobo, Neimeth went down by 6.45 per cent to N1.45, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance drained by 6.15 per cent to 61 Kobo, Veritas Kapital shrank by 4.76 per cent to 20 Kobo, and AIICO Insurance declined by 1.67 per cent to 59 Kobo.
A total of 142.0 million stocks valued at N1.9 billion were traded in 2,651 deals yesterday compared with the 129.9 million stocks worth N3.9 billion traded in 2,678 deals a day earlier, representing an increase in the trading volume by 9.32 per cent, a decline in the trading value and the number of deals by 51.28 per cent and 1.01 per cent, respectively.
UBA closed the day as the most active stock with the sale of 32.4 million units, Courteville exchanged 16.0 million units, Zenith Bank traded 11.5 million units, GTCO sold 8.6 million units, and Chams transacted 6.7 million units.
