By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading day in September 2024 ended on a high note on Monday with a 0.10 per cent appreciation at the close of transactions on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
This was influenced by buying interest in banking equities, particularly the tier-1 lenders, which have continued to show resilience despite their tough operating climate.
Business Post reports that in the first trading session of this week, the insurance counter appreciated by 2.07 per cent and the banking space grew by 1.14 per cent.
The duo offset the selling pressure from the other sectors, as the industrial goods index went down by 1.07 per cent, and the consumer goods industry declined by 0.05 per cent, while the energy space closed flat.
At the close of trading activities, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 100.11 points to 98,558.79 points from the preceding day’s 98,458.68 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N57 billion to settle at N56.635 trillion compared with last Friday’s N56.578 trillion.
It was observed that investor sentiment was bullish yesterday after the local bourse finished with 32 appreciating shares and 23 depreciating shares, representing a positive market breadth index.
The trio of Secure Electronic Technology, Abbey Mortgage Bank and Africa Prudential gained 10.00 per cent each to quote at 66 Kobo, N2.75, and N9.90 apiece, Tripple G rose by 9.93 per cent to N4.54, and Deap Capital surged by 9.91 per cent to N1.22.
Conversely, Ellah Lakes lost 9.96 per cent to trade at N4.43, Neimeth fell by 9.81 per cent to N1.93, Academy Press slumped by 9.78 per cent to N2.86, Caverton shed 9.70 per cent to N2.42, and University Press declined by 8.44 per cent to N2.17.
On Monday, investors bought and sold 1.9 billion equities worth N111.6 billion in 10,378 deals versus the 797.2 million equities valued at N6.7 billion traded in 7,764 deals, implying a rise in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 131.45 per cent, 1,565.67 per cent, and 33.67 per cent, respectively.
Guinness Nigeria traded 1.3 billion shares valued at N103.9 billion during the session to stay on top of the activity chart, followed by Japaul, which sold 182.8 million stocks for N463.4 million, UBA transacted 45.2 million equities worth N1.3 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 34.9 million shares valued at N707.4 million, and Veritas Kapital traded 30.4 million equities worth N45.2 million.