By Dipo Olowookere
The market had a breather on Tuesday, appreciating by 0.58 per cent after the previous day’s poor performance as a result of cautious trading.
Yesterday, the aggressive purchase of GTCO stocks and others provided the needed succour, though traders are still monitoring happenings in the political space as the nation prepares to head to the polls next year.
When transactions closed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 256.23 points to 44,655.89 points from 44,399.66 points, while the market capitalisation rose by N138 billion to N24.060 trillion from N23.922 trillion.
Skyway Aviation was the highest price riser during the session with 10.00 per cent to trade at N5.83, followed by Courtville, which grew by 8.57 per cent to 38 kobo.
FTN Cocoa appreciated by 8.33 per cent to 39 kobo, Dangote Sugar gained 7.35 per cent to trade at N18.25, while Berger Paints chalked up 5.84 per cent to close at N8.15.
Conversely, NEM Insurance suffered the biggest loss with 8.33 per cent to trade at N3.63, followed by Sunu Assurances, which lost 5.88 per cent to quote at 32 kobo.
Regency Assurance fell by 4.26 per cent to 45 kobo, Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 4.00 per cent to 24 kobo, while Coronation Insurance depleted by 3.92 per cent to 49 kobo.
Business Post reports that when the market closed for the day, there were 27 appreciating stocks and 13 depreciating stocks, indication a robust positive investor sentiment.
However, the activity level was mixed with the trading volume rising by 9.76 per cent to 235.2 million from 214.3 million, while the trading value dropped 28.65 per cent to N1.9 billion from N2.7 billion and the number of deals fell by 5.87 per cent to 4,151 deals from 4,410 deals.
Transcorp topped the activity chart with a turnover of 38.1 million shares worth N40.1 million, followed by GTCO with 18.7 million stocks valued at N476.5 million.Further, Jaiz Bank sold 15.0 million equities worth N9.8 million, Ecobank exchanged 14.5 million shares for N126.3 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 13.4 million stocks worth N161.1 million.In terms of the performance of the five major sectors of the market, the banking space grew by 0.98 per cent, the industrial goods counter went up by 0.79 per cent, the consumer goods index rose by 0.69 per cent, the energy index appreciated by 0.25 per cent, while the insurance sector […]