NGX index up 0.39%, as Guinness, Caverton lead the gainers

By Philemon Adedeji

Nigerian Equities Market turned previous day loss to close in the green zone as the key market indicator rose by 193.82 absolute points amid positive market breadth.

The NGX All-Share Index inched weight by 0.39 per cent to close at 49,836.51 basis points as against 0.07 points loss recorded to close at 49,642.69 basis points at the end of the  trading session on Tuesday. As market capitalisation value records N104.54 billion gain to close at N26.880 trillion.

The total volume traded advanced by 191.66 per cent to close at 367.34 million share, valued at N3.24bn and exchanged in 3,725 deals.

Sectoral performance was broadly negative as fourteen (14) NGX sector index closed northward, one (1) closed southward while three (3) closed flat. The NGX Consumer Goods Index inched up by 1.80 per cent to top the gainers chart while the NGX Insurance Index dipped by 0.10 per cent to top the losers’ chart.

The market sentiments as measured by market breadth is positive as Guinness led 20 gainers, while  Consolidated Hallmark Insurance led the 11 losers.

Guinness led the gainers table with 9.88 per cent to close at N87.90 per share, as Caverton offshore that followed grew by 9.62 per cent to close at N1.14 per share while Transcorp which recorded as the third best gainer rose by 8.65 per cent to close at N1.13 per share NGXGROUP appreciated by 6.43 per cent to close at N22.35 per share and  Lasaco went up by 5.10 per cent to close at N1.03 per share.

On the other hand, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance dipped by 7.69 per cent to close at N0.60 per share, followed by Unilever which dropped by 7.22 per cent to close at N12.20 per share, while Sovereign Insurance declined by 7.14 per cent to close at N0.26 per share.

UPDcreit went down by 7.04 per cent to close at N3.30 per share and Jaizbank which recorded as the last fifth loser depreciated by 4.44 per cent to close at N0.86 per cent.

Transaction in the share of Sterling bank topped the activities chart with 162.446 million shares valued at N238.936 million, accompanied by Accesscorp which transacted 27.700 million shares worth N228.032 million while United Bank of Africa sold 26.577 million shares worth N191.273 million.

First Bank Holding traded 22.425 million shares valued at N244.668 million and Fidelity Bank accounted 20.166 million shares worth N63.769 million.

In yesterday trading, STERLING BANK was the most traded stock by volume with 162.45 million units traded while MTNN   was the most traded stock by value which is put at N873.29 million.