NGX capitalisation appreciates further by N33 billion

The bulls maintained dominance at the close of transactions, yesterday, on the equities sector of the Nigerian Exchange Limited NGX), as market capitalisation increased further by N33 billion.

The All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 63.95 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.16 per cent, to close at 40,829.15 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation also increased by N33 billion to close at N21.275 trillion.

The market’s positive performance was driven by investors’ bargain hunting in large and medium capitalised stocks, which are: Presco, Okomu Oil, Lafarge Africa, FBN Holdings (FBNH) and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI).

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “In the final trading session, we expect the market to sustain its bullish run on improved sentiment.”

Vetiva Dealing and Brokerage said: “We foresee a similar trading pattern in the market tomorrow, as investors continue to take profit on some stocks while buying up other fundamentally sound names.”

Similarly, the market breadth closed positive, recording 24 gainers and 20 losers. University Press recorded the highest price gain of 9.92 per cent, to close at N1.44 kobo while Presco followed with a gain 5.92 per cent to close at N85.00 kobo per share.

Chams and Universal Insurance appreciated by 4.76 per cent to close at 22 kobo each, while UACN Property Development Company (UPDC) also appreciated by 3.65 per cent to close at N1.99 kobo per share.

On the other hand, BOC Gases led the losers’ chart by 9.87 per cent to close at N10.50 kobo per share. Caverton Offshore Support Group followed with a decline of 9.71 per cent to close at N1.58 kobo while AXA Mansard Insurance shed 5.22 per cent to close at N2.36, per share.

Courteville Business Solutions shed 4.88 per cent to close at 39 kobo while Sovereign Trust Insurance also depreciated by 4.35 per cent to close at 22 kobo per share.

The total volume of trades increased by 102.7 per cent to 812.298 million units, valued at N10.575 billion, and exchanged in 4,863 deals. Transactions in the shares of FBNH topped the activity chart with 605.012 million shares valued at N8.902 billion. Fidelity Bank followed with 20.589 million shares worth N53.597 million, while Wema Bank traded 15.177 million shares valued at N11.311 million.

ETI traded 15.028 million shares valued at N88.884 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) transacted 13.765 million shares worth N13.011 million.