The local stock market appreciated by 0.20 per cent on Friday on the back of renewed buying pressure by investors, raising the All-Share Index (ASI) higher by 281.30 per cent to 143,520.53 points from 143,239.23 points.
Business Post reports that the desire to mop-up shares trading a attractive prices improved the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited during the session by N178 billion to N91.286 trillion from N91.108 trillion.
Analysis of the sectorial performance showed that the insurance space remained under pressure as it lost 2.29 per cent, while the energy index shed 0.19 per cent.
These losses were offset by the gains recorded by the others, with the consumer goods counter up by 0.57 per cent, the banking industry grew by 0.25 per cent, and the industrial goods sector increased by 0.13 per cent, while the commodity remained flat.
Ikeja Hotel gained 10.00 per cent to sell for N30.25, NGX Group rose by 9.98 per cent to N56.20, Academy Press jumped by 9.70 per cent to N7.35, Omatek expanded by 9.35 per cent to N1.17, and Cadbury Nigeria appreciated by 8.63 per cent to N57.90.
On the flip side, Abbey Mortgage Bank slipped by 10.00 per cent to N5.85, Meyer depreciated by 9.97 per cent to N13.10, Sunu Assurances crashed by 9.89 per cent to N3.92, Sovereign Trust Insurance weakened by 9.09 per cent to N2.70, and Linkage Assurance shed 8.02 per cent to quote at N1.72.
On the last trading session of the week, traders exchanged 1.8 billion equities worth N20.0 billion in 20,645 deals compared with the 324.6 million equities valued at N13.1 billion traded in 18,328 deals on Thursday, implying a surge in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 454.53 per cent, 52.67 per cent, and 12.64 per cent, respectively.
Cornerstone Insurance was the busiest stock for the session after selling 1.3 billion units worth N6.4 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 103.3 million units valued at N2.2 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 82.7 million units for N1.1 billion, Consolidated Hallmark traded 59.1 million units worth N232.5 million, and UBA transacted 26.4 million units valued at N956.1 million.