The market breadth index of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited turned positive on Tuesday after closing negative on Monday, as the bourse ended with 36 price gainers and 34 price losers, representing a strong investor sentiment.
The market participants embarked on bargain-hunting amid renewed confidence in local equities, especially after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) kept the key monetary rates intact at the end of its two–day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting yesterday.
It was observed that appetite for Nigerian stocks kept Customs Street in the bulls’ territory by 0.47 per cent, with the market capitalisation growing by N395 billion to N83.789 trillion from and N83.394 trillion and the All-Share Index (ASI) increasing by 624.96 points to 132,451.73 points from 131,826.77 points.
The best-performing equity for the session was Dangote Sugar as it gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N56.10, The Initiates appreciated by 9.97 per cent to N12.13, Sovereign Trust Insurance advanced by 9.84 per cent to N1.34, Nigerian Enamelware grew by 9.83 per cent to N22.35, and University Press soared by 9.82 per cent to N6.15.
On the flip side, the worst-performing equity was Ellah Lakes, which dipped by 10.00 per cent to N9.90, Legend Internet also fell by 10.00 per cent to N5.31, FTN Cocoa declined by 9.91 per cent to N6.09, Meyer lost 9.79 per cent to sell for N17.05, and Thomas Wyatt depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N3.06.
During the trading day, a total of 771.7 million shares valued at N26.8 billion exchanged hands in 32,734 deals, in contrast to the 706.0 million shares worth N21.6 billion traded in 30,750 deals a day earlier, showing an improvement in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 9.31 per cent, 24.07 per cent, and 6.45 per cent, respectively.
For the another trading session, Access Holdings topped the activity with 102.9 million units sold for N2.8 billion, Ellah Lakes traded 56.7 million units valued at N586.4 million, UBA exchanged 48.3 million units worth N2.3 billion, GTCO sold 32.8 million units for N3.2 billion, and Lafarge Africa transacted 30.5 million units worth N3.9 billion.