A marginal 0.06 per cent was recorded by Customs Street at the close of business on Wednesday, extending the dominance of the bulls for another trading session.
The uptick printed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was despite weak investor sentiment after reporting 30 price gainers and 36 price losers, representing a positive market breadth index.
Livestock Feeds gained 10.00 per cent to close at N9.35, Deap Capital expanded by 9.86 per cent to N5.35, Abbey Mortgage Bank appreciated by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, Vitafoam grew by 8.25 per cent to N210.00, and FTN Cocoa chalked up 6.54 per cent to finish at N9.45.
On the flip side, Neimeth lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N9.00, International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.92 per cent to N7.90, John Holt shrank by 9.73 per cent to N13.45, Union Homes REIT declined by 8.56 per cent to N70.00, and eTranzact went down by 8.06 per cent to N16.55.
Though activity level contracted yesterday, it remained on the high side, as market participants transacted 1.2 billion equities worth N38.8 billion in 54,193 deals compared with the 1.3 billion equities valued at N57.9 billion traded in 59,956 deals on Tuesday, indicating a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 7.69 per cent, 32.99 per cent, and 9.61 per cent, respectively.
Sterling Holdings sold 565.3 million shares valued at N4.5 billion to emerge as the busiest during the session. FCMB transacted 122.1 million equities for N1.5 billion, Access Holdings sold 49.5 million stocks worth N1.3 billion, Jaiz Bank exchanged 34.9 million shares valued at N313.8 million, and Universal Insurance traded 32.4 million stocks worth N35.6 million.
Business Post reports that the banking and industrial goods sectors respectively lost 0.79 per cent and 0.09 per cent yesterday as a result of profit-taking.
However, the consumer goods index rose 0.42 per cent, the energy counter increased by 0.14 per cent, and the insurance segment improved by 0.03 per cent due to bargain-hunting.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 154.59 points to 244,852.21 points from 244,697.62 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N99 billion to N157.043 trillion from N156.944 trillion.