Thomas Wyatt Leads Gainers’ Chart as Stock Market Rallies 0.70%

By Dipo Olowookere

The bulls remained on Customs Street on Friday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, extending the gains by 0.70 per cent at the close of business.

Though the level of activity was lower than the preceding session, investors showed interest in some equities with sound fundamentals, buying them for their prospects, especially for price appreciation tendency.

A total of 518.7 million stocks worth N18.1 billion exchanged hands in 22,350 deals compared with the 5.5 billion stocks worth N419.7 billion traded in 20,399 deals on Thursday, showing a rise in the number of deals by 9.56 per cent, and a decline in the trading volume and value by 90.57 per cent and 95.69 per cent, respectively.

Abbey Mortgage Bank was the busiest equity with a turnover of 50.0 million units valued at N340.2 million, Zenith Bank sold 39.0 million units valued at N2.7 billion, Stanbic IBTC transacted 39.0 million units for N4.2 billion, FCMB exchanged 32.3 million units worth N347.8 million, and Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 27.3 million units valued at N84.1 million.

Business Post reports that the industrial goods space grew by 1.69 per cent yesterday, the consumer goods industry rose by 1.17 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 0.63 per cent, and the banking index expanded by 0.19 per cent, while the commodity and the energy sectors closed flat.

When the closing gong was struck at 2:30 pm to signify the end of trading on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 975.53 points to 142,133.02 points from 141,157.49 points and the market capitalisation jumped by N617 billion to N89.960 trillion from N89.343 trillion.

Thomas Wyatt led the gainers’ chart during the session after its value expanded by 10.00 per cent to N3.30, Eunisell gained 9.98 per cent to close at N33.60, The Initiates improved by 9.98 per cent to N13.22, FTN Cocoa rose by 9.96 per cent to N5.96, and Omatek soared by 8.57 per cent to N1.14.

Conversely, Fidelity Bank led the losers’ chart with a 10.00 per cent slip to trade at N18.45, Custodian Investment lost 8.90 per cent to finish at N44.00, Cutix depreciated by 8.31 per cent to N3.20, DAAR Communications fell by 7.02 per cent to N1.06, and Union Dicon shrank by 5.26 per cent to N9.00.

A total of 36 shares ended in green on the last trading day of the week and 23 shares were in red, implying a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.