By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.46 per cent growth by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has inched the All-Share Index (ASI) closer to the 100,000-point market on Thursday.
The major performance indicator of the local bourse had earlier crossed that threshold, but profit-taking by investors drifted it away from there.
However, renewed bargain-hunting has returned market confidence, and yesterday, it increased by 457.99 points to settle at 99,276.03 points compared with the previous day’s 98,818.04 points, and the market capitalisation jumped by N259 billion to N56.159 trillion from N55.900 trillion.
Investor sentiment was bullish yesterday after the exchange closed with 32 price gainers and 12 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.
Seplat and International Energy Insurance gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N3,410.00, and N1.54, respectively. Eterna rose by 9.87 per cent to N12.25, Consolidated Hallmark expanded by 9.84 per cent to N1.34, and Japaul increased by 9.73 per cent to N2.03.
On the flip side, Cornerstone Insurance depreciated by 8.81 per cent to N1.76, International Breweries shed 8.75 per cent to N3.65, Prestige Assurance fell by 8.47 per cent to 54 Kobo, Universal Insurance declined by 5.71 per cent to 33 Kobo, and Sterling Holdings slumped by 4.05 per cent to N4.03.
The activity chart was mixed during the session, with the trading value up by 12.5 per cent to N5.4 billion from N4.8 billion, and the trading volume down by 40.33 per cent to N309.7 million from 519.00 million, as the number of deals decreased by 9.59 per cent to 7,035 deals from 7,781 deals.
Access Holdings traded 51.8 million shares for N890.3 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 39.2 million equities worth N1.3 billion, Universal Insurance transacted 21.2 million stocks valued at N7.3 million, FCMB traded 20.9 million shares worth N162.00 million, and Fidelity Bank sold 19.1 million stocks for N187.3 million.
A look at the sectorial performance showed that the energy index rose by 5.98 per cent, the banking counter grew by 1.37 per cent, and the insurance sector appreciated by 0.43 per cent, while the consumer goods and industrial goods sectors waned by 0.11 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.