Investors Gain N86bn on Positive Market Sentiment

The pattern of positive trading on the Nigerian Exchange Limited entered the fifth day on Thursday resulting in N86bn gain for investors.

The NGX has been trading positive since Friday and has sustained the mood into the fourth trading session in the week, despite bearish sentiments in some sectors.

Both the All-Share Index and the market capitalisation rose by 0.21 per cent to close at 72,455.83 and N39.649tn, steadily bringing it closer to the historic N40tn milestone.

Although the volume of traded stocks increased by 3.09 per cent to 446,582,797, the value of traded stocks declined by about 10 per cent to N7.26bn compared to the previous day’s record of N8.08bn. The shares were exchanged in 6,845 deals.  The number of stocks traded closed at 123.

Market Breadth which measures investors’ sentiment was slightly flat resulting in 26 gainers and 27 losers.

NGX Benchmark Index Sustains Upward Trend

The advancers include Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank which gained 9.83 per cent to close at N2.57 per unit, John Holt gained 9.73 per cent to close at N2.03, Ikeja Hotel’s shares rose by 9.20 per cent to close at N4.75, Daar Communications gained 7.69 per cent to close at N0.42 and ETranZact gained 7.69 per cent to close at N7 per unit.

Leading the losers’ table was RT Briscoe with a 9.84 per cent decline to close trading at N0.55. UPDCREIT lost 9.78 per cent to close at N4.15. The stocks of Mutual Benefit shed 9.43 per cent of their value to close at N0.48 per unit, Omatek lost 7.79 per cent to close at N0.71 and Sovereign Insurance lost 7.69 per cent to close at N0.36.

For the fourth trading session this week, banking stocks dominated as the top five traded stocks on Thursday include AccessCorp with 77.25 million units of shares worth N 1,75bn traded, followed by FCMB with 45.24 million shares valued at N318.61m. Zenith Bank saw 37,289,741 units of its shares worth N1.38bn exchanging hands, United Bank for Africa had 29,300,628 units of shares amounting to N724.06m  and Fidelity Bank saw 27512103 units of its shares valued at N257.28m traded.