The escalating tension in the Middle East as a result of the attacks on Iran by the duo of the United States and Israel had little or no effect on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday.
The domestic stock market witnessed bargain-hunting yesterday, as investors mopped up equities that could experience price appreciation in the coming days.
Customs Street was up by 0.76 per cent during the trading day, with four of the five major sectors closing in green territory.
The industrial sector appreciated by 3.06 per cent, the banking sector increased by 0.84 per cent, the consumer goods index grew by 0.51 per cent, and the energy segment rose by 0.08 per cent, while the insurance counter lost 0.50 per cent.
When the closing gong was beaten to signal the close of trading activities, the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 1,498.54 points to 198,407.30 points from 196,908.76 points, while the market capitalisation gained N962 billion to close at N127.361 trillion compared with Thursday’s N126.399 trillion.
University Press appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N5.50, Guinness Nigeria also soared by 10.00 per cent to N385.00, Royal Exchange jumped 10.00 per cent to N1.87, May and Baker surged by 9.93 per cent to N41.50, and BUA Cement improved by 9.18 per cent to N270.00.
Conversely, RT Briscoe lost 9.17 per cent to trade at N10.40, Learn Africa depreciated by 8.33 per cent to N8.25, NGX Group crashed by 6.12 per cent to N176.50, Haldane McCall moderated by 5.78 per cent to N3.91, and AXA Mansard shed 5.63 per cent to close at N14.91.
Market participants exchanged 591.0 million shares for N35.0 billion in 53,066 deals during the session versus the 549.8 million shares valued at N44.7 billion traded in 55,465 deals in the previous session, representing a spike in the trading volume by 7.49 per cent, and a cut in the trading value and number of deals by 21.70 per cent and 4.33 per cent, respectively.
The activity chart showed that First Holdco, after the sale of 70.8 million units worth N3.5 billion, Access Holdings traded 67.2 million units valued at N1.7 billion, GTCO exchanged 33.6 million units worth N4.0 billion, Ellah Lakes transacted 27.1 million units for N329.2 million, and Sterling Holdings sold 25.2 million units worth N194.6 million.