By Dipo Olowookere
The bearish sentiment witnessed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday was reversed on Wednesday after buying pressure lifted the market by 1.99 per cent.
The growth was driven by strong demand for Nigerian stocks amid global uncertainties caused by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the resurgence of COVID-19 in China, which is threatening demand for crude oil.
Yesterday, the value of equities on the exchange increased by N557 billion to N28.486 trillion from N27.929 trillion as the All-Share Index (ASI) skyrocketed by 1,033.04 points to 52,838.45 points from 51,805.41 points.
Business Post reports that growth was seen across the key sectors of the market, with the consumer goods, industrial goods, insurance, energy and banking indices expanding by 1.48 per cent, 1.41 per cent, 0.94 per cent, 0.10 per cent and 0.03 per cent apiece.
Data obtained from the bourse indicated that the bullish sentiment was relatively strong at the midweek session as there were 43 price gainers and 27 price losers.
CWG and Okomu Oil topped the gainers’ chart as they gained 10.00 per cent each to trade at 99 kobo and N205.70 respectively. Champion Breweries appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N4.43, McNichols rose by 9.90 per cent to N1.11, while IMG gained 9.88 per cent to trade at N9.45.
On the other end, BUA Foods and Ikeja Hotels topped the losers’ chart as they lost 10.00 per cent each to finish at N56.70 and N1.17 respectively. Eterna depreciated by 9.92 per cent to N6.54, Northern Nigerian Flour Mills fell by 9.50 per cent to N9.05, while RT Briscoe declined by 8.70 per cent to 63 kobo.
A look at the activity log revealed that the level of transactions improved on Wednesday as the trading volume rose by 25.90 per cent to 417.4 million units from 331.5 million units, the trading value increased by 45.58 per cent to N7.3 billion from N5.0 billion, while the number of deals appreciated by 8.46 per cent to 7,255 deals from 6,689 deals.
The most traded stock yesterday was Jaiz Bank as it sold 40.4 million units worth N34.9 million, Transcorp exchanged 35.4 million units valued at N42.6 million, International Breweries transacted 25.4 million units valued at N224.9 million, Unilever Nigeria traded 24.6 million units worth N362.6 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 21.0 million units for N74.1 million.