Nigerian stocks rallied on Thursday after finishing the trading session in the green territory by 0.19 per cent on the back of sustained buying pressure.
The industrial goods index appreciated during the session by 1.16 per cent, the consumer goods counter expanded by 0.90 per cent, and the insurance sector gained 0.24 per cent.
However, the energy and banking sectors gave up 1.19 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively to profit-taking yesterday, though they could not drag the market down.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited increased by 194.69 points to 104,744.43 points from 104,549.74 points and the market capitalisation gained 0.54 per cent or N347 billion to close at N64.868 trillion compared with midweek’s N64.521 trillion.
Investor sentiment was strong yesterday after the bourse ended with 39 advancers and 25 laggards, representing a positive market breadth index.
The duo of Honeywell Flour and Chellaram appreciated by 10.00 per cent each to settle at N9.35 and N5.94, respectively, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills gained 9.98 per cent to trade at N55.10, SAHCO rose by 9.89 per cent to N40.00, and Red Star Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N5.00.
On the flip side, Guinea Insurance depreciated by 10.00 per cent to 72 Kobo, RT Briscoe slumped by 9.70 per cent to N2.70, Veritas Kapital lost 9.30 per cent to quote at N1.17, May and Baker tumbled by 8.95 per cent to N8.65, and DAAR Communications slipped by 7.14 per cent to 78 Kobo.
A total of 497.4 million stocks worth N11.8 billion exchanged hands in 13,716 deals during the session versus the 421.6 million stocks valued at N15.0 billion transacted in 16,256 deals on Wednesday, implying a rise in the trading volume by 17.98 per cent, a decline in the trading value by 21.33 per cent and a drop in the number of deals by 15.63 per cent.
FBN Holdings was the busiest equity on Thursday with a turnover of 83.1 million shares valued at N2.4 billion, Veritas Kapital traded 40.0 million stocks for N46.9 million, Universal Insurance transacted 26.8 million equities worth N19.2 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 24.8 million stocks for N481.0 million, and FCMB sold 22.5 million equities worth N249.3 million.