Thursday’s 0.38% Rise Stretches NGX Year-to-Date Gain to 62.04%

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further appreciated by 0.38 per cent on Thursday to stretch the year-to-date gain to 62.04 per cent.

The growth recorded yesterday was buoyed by the energy and the consumer goods sectors, which closed higher by 3.95 per cent and 0.04 per cent, respectively. They offset the 0.29 per cent loss and 0.08 per cent decline suffered by the banking and insurance indices, respectively, while the industrial goods counter closed flat.

The All-Share Index (ASI) rallied by 958.99 points to 252,150.01 points from 251,191.02 points, and the market capitalisation advanced by N622 billion to N163.679 trillion from N163.057 trillion.

Business Post reports that there were 28 price gainers and 24 price losers on Customs Street yesterday, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

CMFC gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N2.97, RT Briscoe expanded by 9.55 per cent to N9.75, Caverton rose by 8.75 per cent to N4.35, NAHCO grew by 8.57 per cent to N152.00, and Linkage Assurance jumped by 7.36 per cent to N1.75.

On the flip side, Neimeth lost 7.23 per cent to quote at N7.70, Ellah Lakes slipped by 5.33 per cent to N8.00, Mutual Benefits depreciated by 4.65 per cent to N3.28, Lasaco Assurance dropped by 4.44 per cent to finish at N1.72, and Wema Bank fell by 3.93 per cent to N30.55.

A look at the activity log showed that 978.3 million stocks worth N50.2 billion exchanged hands in 48,558 deals during the session, in contrast to the 1.6 billion stocks valued at N45.8 billion traded in 49,836 deals on Wednesday. This implied that the trading volume dipped by 38.86 per cent, the trading value surged by 9.61 per cent, and the number of deals decreased by 2.56 per cent.

Fidelity Bank was the busiest equity for the day, with a turnover of 335.2 million units valued at N6.9 billion. VFD Group sold 122.1 million units for N1.4 billion, Transcorp exchanged 65.9 million units worth N2.4 billion, Access Holdings traded 43.7 million units valued at N1.3 billion, and Chams transacted 42.6 million units for N139.9 million.