Sustained buying interest in the shares of some blue-chip stocks, especially Oando and FTN Cocoa, aided the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to close on an upward note yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated further by 0.5 per cent.
At the close of trading yesterday, the ASI grew by 181.18 absolute points, representing an increase of 0.47 per cent to close at 38,849.08 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value gained N94 billion to close at N20.241 trillion.
The upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks among which are, Airtel Africa, Julius Berger, Ardova, Lafarge Africa, and UAC of Nigeria (UACN).
Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “In the next trading session, we expect the positive performance to be sustained barring the release of an underperforming half year, 2021 earnings results.”
Vetiva Dealing and Brokerage firm said: “We expect to see sustained interest in the banking names as investors continue to position ahead of interim dividend while also cherry picking across different sectors.”
On the price movement chart, 29 stocks recorded price appreciation while 16 others constituted the losers’ chart.
Oando recorded the highest price gain of 9.82 per cent to close at N4.36 kobo while FTN Cocoa Processors followed with a gain 9.76 per cent to close at 45 kobo.
Ardova went up by 9.75 per cent to close at N17.45 kobo. BOC Gases rose by 9.74 per cent to close at N8.45 kobo. Livestock Feeds also gained 9.64 per cent to close at N2.16 kobo.
On the other hand, Universal Insurance led the losers’ chart with 9.09 per cent to close at 20 kobo. Linkage Assurance followed with a decline of 7.14 per cent to close at 65 kobo while Sovereign Trust Insurance lost 6.90 per cent to close at 27 kobo.
Africa Prudential lost 6.52 per cent to close at N6.45 kobo. Regency Alliance Insurance shed 6.25 per cent to close at 45 kobo.
The total volume of trades rose by 7.08 per cent to 246.556 billion units, valued at N2.243 billion, and exchanged in 4,676 deals. Transactions in the shares of Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 30.544 million shares valued at N73.766 million.
Access Bank followed with 14.714 million shares worth N136.722 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 13.844 million shares valued at N108.646 million.
Guaranty Trust Bank Holding Company (GTCO) traded 12.761 million shares valued at N378.319 million, while Wema Bank transacted 11.265 million shares worth N9.806 million.
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