The bulls rescued the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited from the bears on Tuesday amid cherry-picking of shares with sound fundamentals.
Data showed that the bourse closed higher by 0.85 per cent during the trading day, influenced by bargain-hunting activities by investors.
Business Post reports that Airtel Africa led the gainers’ chart yesterday after it rose by 10.00 per cent to N2,497.00, Consolidated Hallmark increased by 10.00 per cent to N4.95, John Holt gained 10.00 per cent to close at N14.30, Legend Internet also surged by 10.00 per cent to N6.60, and Zichis appreciated by 9.97 per cent to N10.37.
On the flip side, NPF Microfinance Bank lost 6.29 per cent to trade at N6.56, Royal Exchange depreciated by 5.32 per cent to N1.78, CWG crashed by 4.82 per cent to N20.75, Veritas Kapital went down by 4.21 per cent to N2.05, and UPDC slipped by 3.88 per cent to N4.95.
The market breadth index was positive after Customs Street finished with 32 appreciating equities and 26 depreciating equities, representing bullish investor sentiment.
It was observed that buying pressure was across the key sectors of the market, with the insurance, consumer goods, and banking indices up by 2.14 per cent, 0.53 per cent, and 0.50 per cent apiece, while the industrial goods and energy sectors closed flat.
The All-Share Index (ASI) gained 1,691.86 points on Tuesday to finish at 200,705.88 points from Monday’s 199,014.02 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N1.086 trillion to N128.836 trillion from N127.750 trillion.
At the exchange yesterday, 1.3 billion shares worth N65.3 billion were traded in 89,949 deals compared with the 848.8 million shares valued at N53.3 billion transacted in 139,458 deals a day earlier, showing a decline in the number of deals by 35.50 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 53.16 per cent and 22.51 per cent, respectively.
The activity log was topped by Access Holdings with 266.8 million stocks valued at N6.0 billion, GTCO traded 184.4 million shares for N19.4 billion, Wema Bank exchanged 182.5 million equities worth N4.8 billion, UBA sold 119.1 million stocks valued at N5.8 billion, and Zenith Bank transacted 42.7 million shares for N4.6 billion.