The signing of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Bill 2025 into law by President Bola Tinubu triggered a significant interest in insurance stocks on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday.
According to data, Customs Street was further up yesterday by 0.50 per cent despite profit-taking in some stocks, which could have brought down the market.
Business Post reports that the banking index was down by 0.86 per cent and the consumer goods industry closed lower by 0.43 per cent.
However, the insurance space expanded by 7.51 per cent, the industrial goods sector improved by 3.35 per cent, the energy counter soared by 0.91 per cent, and the commodity sector appreciated by 0.20 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 724.59 points to end at 144,796.37 points compared with the previous day’s 144,071.78 points and the market capitalisation added N458 billion to settle at N91.608 trillion compared with the N91.150 trillion it ended on Monday.
A total of 1.0 billion equities valued at N22.8 billion were traded in 38,932 deals yesterday versus the 811.1 million equities worth N19.5 billion traded in 35,963 deals a day earlier, implying an improvement in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 23.29 per cent, 16.92 per cent, and 8.26 per cent, respectively.
AIICO Insurance led the activity chart during the trading day after it transacted 97.1 million shares worth N255.3 million, Universal Insurance traded 87.3 million equities valued at N71.0 million, Linkage Assurance exchanged 64.0 million stocks for N101.3 million, Fidelity Bank sold 59.2 million shares valued at N1.3 billion, and Veritas Kapital traded 50.2 million equities worth N83.2 million.
On Tuesday, Neimeth, AIICO Insurance, Nigerian Enamelware, BUA Cement, and Mutual Benefits topped the gainers table after chalking up 10.00 per cent each to close at N7.70, N2.64, N29.70, N170.50, and N2.20, respectively.
On the flip side, Living Trust Mortgage Bank lost 9.86 per cent to close at N5.94, UPDC REIT grew by 9.63 per cent to N8.45, Academy Press expanded by 9.60 per cent to N8.95, MeCure depreciated by 9.20 per cent to N15.80, and Cadbury slumped by 7.35 per cent to N63.00.