Last week, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended in green amid renewed buying interest in mid and large-cap equities by investors.
According to data from Customs Street, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 1.02 per cent to 143,584.04 points and the market capitalisation increased by 1.31 per cent to N91.135 trillion.
In the same vein, all other indices finished higher except the premium, insurance, NGX AFR Div Yield and NGX MERI Value indices, lost 0.05 per cent, 2.02 per cent, 2.78 per cent and 0.81 per cent, respectively while the AseM and sovereign bond indices closed flat.
In the four-day trading week, caused by a public holiday on Wednesday for Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day anniversary, investors traded 8.403 billion shares worth N115.501 billion in 115,801 deals versus the 7.684 billion shares valued at N494.126 billion exchanged in 116,645 deals in the preceding week.
The financial services industry led the activity chart with 7.750 billion stocks valued at N88.153 billion traded in 54,074 deals, contributing 92.24 per cent and 76.32 per cent to the total trading volume and value apiece.
The ICT sector followed with 181.005 million equities worth N4.077 billion in 9,364 deals, and the consumer goods space transacted 126.554 million shares worth N6.274 billion in 14,261 deals.
The trio of Cornerstone Insurance, Fidelity Bank, and UBA accounted for 6.525 billion shares worth N52.699 billion in 8,820 deals, contributing 77.66 per cent and 45.63 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Fifty-three equities appreciated during the week versus 32 equities in the previous week, 43 equities depreciated versus 51 equities, and 51 equities closed flat versus 64 equities recorded a week earlier.
Eterna topped the gainers’ chart after it gained 32.80 per cent to trade at N37.05, Nigerian Enamelware grew by 20.94 per cent to N42.45, PZ Cussoms rose by 20.87 per cent to N41.70, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank jumped by 18.25 per cent to N6.09, and Eunisell surged by 17.56 per cent to N39.50.
On the flip side, Julius Berger topped the losers’ table after it shed 17.79 per cent to N122.90, International Energy Insurance slipped by 11.08 per cent to N2.97, Union Dicon went down hy 10.00 per cent to N8.10, AXA Mansard also fell by 10.00 per cent to N14.40, and University Press crashed by 9.85 per cent to N5.40.