The last trading day of July on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited struggled to end on a positive note on Thursday with a 0.42 per cent appreciation.
This was because the market witnessed heavy sell-offs yesterday, resulting in the stock exchange closing with 28 appreciating equities and 54 depreciating equities, implying a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
The growth recorded during the session was buoyed by buying interest in mid and large-cap stocks, especially UAC Nigeria, which is becoming the darling of investors because of its acquisition of the Chivita and Hollandia brands of CHI Limited from Coca-Cola.
According to data from Customs Street, Wema Bank and UAC Nigeria topped the gainers’ table after they chalked up 10.00 per cent each to sell for N22.00, and N80.30 apiece, Guinness Nigeria expanded by 9.96 per cent to N117.05, SAHCO rose by 9.95 per cent to N90.05, and MeCure improved by 9.69 per cent to N15.85.
Conversely, AXA Mansard lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N11.70, Learn Africa crashed by 10.00 per cent to N6.30, FTN Cocoa depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N5.67, The Initiates also eased by 10.00 per cent to N13.50, and Ikeja Hotel contracted by 9.96 per cent to N20.80.
But, when the bourse closed for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 584.85 points to 139,863.52 points from 139,278.67 points and the market capitalisation went up by N370 billion to N88.425 trillion from N88.055 trillion.
Business Post reports that the level of transactions increased during the trading day after the sale of 1.1 billion shares worth N33.7 billion in 37,370 deals compared with the 922.0 million shares valued at N35.4 billion traded in 36,423 deals at midweek, representing an increase in the trading volume and number of deals by 19.31 per cent, and 2.60 per cent, respectively, and a 4.80 per cent depreciation in the trading value.
FCMB was the busiest equity after it transacted 121.5 million units for N1.2 billion, Universal Insurance traded 91.6 million units valued at N71.7 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 81.1 million units worth N1.7 billion, Regency Alliance sold 64.5 million units worth N51.9 million, and Royal Exchange traded 47.1 million units valued at N79.6 million.