The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited managed to close higher by 0.18 per cent after an intense battle with the bears, which wanted to take control.
Data from the local stock exchange showed that investor sentiment was weak during the session after a negative market breadth index influenced by 38 depreciating stocks, which outnumbered the 32 appreciating stocks.
Eterna and NPF Microfinance Bank gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N38.50 and N7.15 apiece. Premier Paints rose by 9.92 per cent to N13.30, Custodian Investment appreciated by 9.71 per cent to N76.80, and Fortis Global Insurance chalked up 9.68 per cent to trade at N1.36.
On the flip side, Tripple G lost 9.94 per cent to settle at N4.26, Multiverse declined by 9.91 per cent to quote at N20.45, Jaiz Bank decreased by 7.41 per cent to N10.00, Honeywell Flour went down by 7.11 per cent to N20.90, and Dangote Sugar crashed by 7.10 per cent to N69.40.
Customs Street witnessed a bit of profit-taking yesterday, with the insurance counter losing 1.63 per cent and the energy space declining by 0.16 per cent.
These losses were offset by the 0.51 per cent jump recorded by the banking index, the 0.10 per cent growth achieved by the consumer goods segment, and the 0.03 per cent rise posted by the industrial goods sector.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 343.93 points to 196,807.15 points from 196,463.22 points, and the market capitalisation gained N221 billion to settle at N126.318 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N126.097 trillion.
Trading data revealed that 634.0 million shares worth N29.1 billion exchanged hands in 66,286 deals on Thursday versus the 805.3 million shares valued at N38.4 billion traded in 71,312 deals on Wednesday, representing a fall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 21.27 per cent, 24.22 per cent, and 7.05 per cent apiece.
Jaiz Bank topped the activity chart with 137.5 million equities sold for N1.4 billion, GTCO transacted 45.5 million shares worth N5.4 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 29.7 million stocks valued at N774.8 million, Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 27.1 million shares for N70.6 million, and Zenith Bank sold 24.3 million equities valued at N2.2 billion.