23 Equities Raise Customs Street by 0.37%

This happened despite the insurance sector closing lower by 2.92 per cent during the trading session due to profit-taking.

However, the banking space increased by 1.33 per cent, the consumer goods index appreciated by 1.24 per cent, and the energy counter gained 0.44 per cent, while the industrial goods and the commodity sectors remained unchanged.

When the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 381.93 points to 104,233.81 points from 103,851.88 points and the market capitalisation gained N239 billion to settle at N65.499 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N65.260 trillion.

Abbey Mortgage Bank topped the gainers’ chart yesterday after it chalked up 9.94 per cent to sell for N8.96, Nigerian Breweries improved by 9.86 per cent to N36.20, ABC Transport expanded by 9.23 per cent to N1.42, Livestock Feeds rose by 9.20 per cent to N9.50, and Ecobank surged by 8.94 per cent to N29.25.

On the flip side, Sunu Assurances headed the losers’ table after it shed 9.91 per cent to close at N5.00, Ellah Lakes decreased by 9.76 per cent to N3.05, Cornerstone Insurance went down by 9.44 per cent to N2.59, Sovereign Trust Insurance crashed by 9.18 per cent to 89 Kobo, and Universal Insurance lost 7.55 per cent to trade at 49 Kobo.

At the trading day, there were 23 price gainers and 24 price losers, representing a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.

Universal Insurance was the busiest stock with a turnover of 89.3 million units valued at N44.4 million, Fidelity Bank sold 49.5 million units for N915.9 million, Access Holdings transacted 32.9 million units worth N715.3 million, Zenith Bank traded 15.6 million units valued at N685.4 million, and Nigerian Breweries transacted 15.4 million units worth N555.6 million.

When the closing gong was beaten by 2:30 pm to signal the end of trading activities for the session, a total of 376.3 million equities valued at N7.9 billion exchanged hands in 11,204 deals versus the 351.7 million equities worth N13.7 billion in 12,141 deals transacted a day earlier, indicating an increase in the trading volume by 7.00 per cent, and a slide in the trading value and the number of deals by 42.34 per cent and 7.72 per cent, respectively.