UBA, MTN Nigeria Take Charge as NGX Index Rises 1.45%

By Dipo Olowookere

The bullish momentum at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited continued on Tuesday with a further 1.45 per cent growth at the close of transactions by 2:30 pm.

This was influenced by sustained bargain-hunting activities by investors, implying an expression of confidence in local equities, which underwent selling pressure a few sessions ago after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the interest rate by 4.00 per cent to 22.75 per cent.

Traders showed strong interest in banking stocks, resulting in the index rising by 4.54 per cent when trading activities closed for the session.

The insurance sector grew by 0.98 per cent, the industrial goods counter appreciated by 0.18 per cent, and the energy space increased by 0.10 per cent, while the consumer goods sector witnessed profit-taking, resulting in a 0.37 per cent loss.

But this did not affect the outcome of the market, as the All-Share Index (ASI) soared by 1,479.60 points to 103,524.44 points from 102,044.84 points, and the cumulative value of bourse stretched by N837 billion to N58.534 trillion from N57.697 trillion.

Today, traders traded 565.8 million shares worth N14.2 billion in 11,519 deals compared with the 436.9 million shares valued at N17.1 billion transacted in 11,344 deals yesterday, representing a decline in the value of transactions by 17.00 per cent, and a jump in the volume of trades and the number of deals by 29.50 per cent and 1.54 per cent, respectively.

Unlike the preceding day, Transcorp was investors’ toast at the exchange on Tuesday after it traded 170.7 million equities valued at N3.1 billion, Access Holdings transacted 48.6 million shares worth N1.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 39.0 million stocks for N1.7 billion, Jaiz Bank sold 36.8 million shares for N72.5 million, and UBA traded 32.0 million equities valued at N796.2 million.

Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained strong during the session, with a positive market breadth index after 35 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 14 stocks closed on the losers’ chart.

UBA gained 10.00 per cent to sell for N25.30, MTN Nigeria appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N243.50, Julius Berger advanced by 9.71 per cent to N61.00, Access Holdings surged by 9.51 per cent to N22.45, and Veritas Kapital moved up by 9.38 per cent to 70 Kobo.

On the other side of the coin, Tantalizers declined by 7.89 per cent to trade at 35 Kobo, NASCON slumped by 6.77 per cent to N53.70, Morison Industries deflated by 6.62 per cent to N1.41, C&I Leasing receded by 6.45 per cent to N3.48, and Cutix crashed by 6.30 per cent to N2.53.