By Dipo Olowookere
Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed bullish on Thursday after closing 0.06 per cent higher on the back of renewed bargain hunting.
It was observed that investors showed interest in the shares of GTCO, Stanbic IBTC, Lafarge Africa and Oando, resulting in the positive performance of the stock market yesterday.
However, NAHCO topped the gainers’ chart at the close of business after its value rose by 10.00 per cent to N3.52 and was trailed by Pharma Deko, which grew by 9.55 per cent to N1.95.
Veritas Kapital appreciated by 9.52 per cent to 23 kobo, Cornerstone Insurance gained 9.43 per cent to trade at 58 kobo, while Chams improved by 4.76 per cent to 22 kobo.
On the flip side, Sovereign Trust Insurance topped the losers’ chart after it went down by 4.17 per cent to 23 kobo, UPDC lost 3.68 per cent to sell for N1.83, Ecobank declined by 2.83 per cent to N5.15, Transcorp went down by 2.17 per cent to 90 kobo, while Prestige Assurance fell by 2.08 per cent to 47 kobo.
Business Post reports that apart from the banking index, which decreased by 0.19 per cent, every other sector closed positive yesterday, with the insurance space rising by 0.90 per cent.
The oil/gas sector appreciated by 0.68 per cent, the consumer goods counter improved by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector went up by 0.01 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 21.44 points to 38,874.13 points from 38,852.69 points, while the market capitalisation rose by N11 billion to N20.254 trillion from N20.243 trillion.
In spite of the gains achieved on Thursday, the level of activity waned as the trading volume went down by 19.24 per cent to 125.8 million shares from 155.8 million shares, the trading value reduced by 16.17 per cent to N1.3 billion from N1.5 billion, while the number of deals dropped 8.17 per cent to 2,990 deals from 3,256 deals.
Mutual Benefits Assurance was the most traded stock as it transacted 13.7 million units valued at N4.1 million and was trailed by United Capital, which sold 11.5 million units worth N97.6 million.
GTCO exchanged 10.0 million shares valued at N270.9 million, Zenith Bank sold 9.2 million equities worth N210.5 million, while Transcorp transacted 7.6 million stocks valued at N6.9 million.
