Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
For the first time in seven trading sessions, the stock exchange in Nigeria closed bullish on Tuesday with a marginal growth of 0.01 per cent, buoyed by mild bargain hunting.
Investors used the opportunity of the low prices of stocks at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited to increase their portfolios, though the bearish sentiment still remained.
This was reflected in the market breadth, which closed negative yesterday with 21 price losers and 14 price gainers led by UPDC, which appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N1.66.
Academy Press rose by 8.33 per cent to 39 kobo, Courtville grew by 7.41 per cent to 29 kobo, Vitafoam improved by 3.88 per cent to N17.40, while Livestock Feeds jumped by 2.88 per cent to N2.14.
On the flip side, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 7.41 per cent to 25 kobo, University Press lost 6.42 per cent to sell at N1.02, Regency Alliance fell by 6.25 per cent to 45 kobo, UAC Nigeria declined by 4.84 per cent to N9.80, while Chams decreased by 4.55 per cent to 21 kobo.
In terms of the sectorial performance, the industrial goods sector rose by 0.13 per cent, likewise the banking sector, which appreciated by 0.09 per cent at the close of transactions yesterday.
However, the insurance sector fell by 0.85 per cent, the energy space went down by 0.39 per cent, while the consumer goods counter depreciated by 0.08 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) slightly increase by 4.88 points to 38,920.50 points from 38,915.62 points, while the market capitalisation rose by N2 billion to N20.278 trillion from N20.276 trillion.
During the trading session, the volume of equities transacted by investors increased by 13.61 per cent to 228.5 million units from 201.1 million units, the number of deals carried out rose by 1.08 per cent 3,376 deals from 3,340 deals, while the value of stocks traded went down by 25.63 per cent to N.9 billion from N2.5 billion.
Wema Bank was the most traded stock on Tuesday with the sale of 46.8 million units worth N36.0 million, according to the analysis of the day’s trades by Business Post.
Access Bank transacted 28.2 million shares worth N263.5 million, UBA exchanged 17.8 million equities for N135.1 million, Mutual Benefits Assurance transacted 17.2 million stocks valued at N4.9 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 14.8 million shares valued at N36.1 million.
