Bulls Sustain Dominance at NGX as Investors Gain N241bn

The bulls tigthened their grip on Customs Street yesterday as a result of sustained buying pressure, with investor sentiment remaining strong after the bourse ended with 38 price gainers and 21 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.

Chellarams and Beta Glass gained 10.00 per cent each to settle at N9.46 and N160.65 apiece, International Energy Insurance appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N1.66, May and Baker rose by 9.78 per cent to N10.10, and Academy Press improved by 9.78 per cent to N3.93.

On the flip side, Abbey Mortgage Bank lost 10.00 per cent to quote at N7.47, Livestock Feeds declined by 9.77 per cent to N7.85, Legend Internet shed 8.50 per cent to finish at N9.15, Deap Capital shrank by 6.48 per cent to N1.01, and VFD Group tumbled by 5.88 per cent to N16.00.

A total of 554.1 million equities worth N14.4 billion exchanged hands in 16,704 deals yesterday compared with the 587.5 million equities valued at N18.7 billion transacted in 17,496 deals at midweek, indicating a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 5.69 per cent, 24.00 per cent, and 4.53 per cent, respectively.

Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 69.8 million shares sold for N1.4 billion, Access Holdings transacted 65.8 million stocks valued at N1.4 billion, Tantalizers exchanged 55.1 million equities worth N126.8 million, GTCO traded 46.0 million shares for N3.1 billion, and First HoldCo transacted 22.7 million stocks valued at N571.6 million.

Business Post reports that the consumer goods index depreciated by 1.34 per cent during the session and the commodity sector closed flat.

However, the banking industry improved by 1.02 per cent, the industrial goods sector advanced by 0.98 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 0.33 per cent, and the energy space leapt by 0.07 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) closed higher by 382.13 points to 109,231.96 points from 108,849.83 points and the market capitalisation jumped by N241 billion to N68.653 trillion from N68.412 trillion.