Domestic equities sustain upward trend, gain N235bn

Transactions on the floor of Nigerian Exchange NGX on Friday closed Northward, appreciating by N235 billion as gains recorded in small and mid-cap stocks boosted trading activities during the day.

Market capitalisation of listed equities increased by 0.15 per cent to N158.513 trillion from N158.278 trillion it closed the previous day.

The NGX All Share Index also appreciated by 364.26 basis points to 245573.60 points from 245209.34 points recorded the previous day.

Although the market breadth was negative with 20 advancers against 24 decliners, gains in the shares of FirstHoldco; Zenith Bank; Zichis; UBA; AccessCorp, and others outweighed the losses recorded in Legend Internet and ABC Transport Cap Plc, bringing the year-to-date return higher to 57.81 per cent.

An analysis of the investment showed that UPDC led the gainers’ table with 9.23 per cent to close at N3.55 per unit; CMFC followed with a gain of 8.00 per cent to close at N3.24 per share; CWG added 6.56 per cent to close at N19.50 per unit; Mansard Insurance gained 4.80 per cent to close at N13.10, while Neimeth International Pharmaceutical grew by 4.24 per cent to close at N8.60 per share, with Cutix adding 4.00 to close at N2.60 per unit.

On the contrary, Redstarex topped the losers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at N18.00 per unit; Cap Plc trailed with a loss of 9.98 per cent to close at N115.45 per share; JohnHolt fell by 9.82 per cent to close at N10.10 per unit; ABC Transport dipped by 9.57 per cent to close at N5.20 per share, while Legend Internet fell by 8.70 per cent to close N4.20 per share.

The volume of trades went up 986.23 million, representing 185.46 per cent, as investors traded 1.518 million shares against 531.77 points reported the previous day; the value of transactions surged by 30.25 per cent to settle at N26.650 billion in 42500 deals.

Trading in the shares of FTG Insurance led market activities with 824.456 million shares valued at N2.131 billion; FCMB group followed with account of 217.914 million shares worth N2.781 billion; Access Holdings Company traded 176.314 million shares cost N4.669 billion; Chams Plc exchanged 32.495 million shares worth N132.088 million, while FirstHoldco traded 25.013 million shares valued at N3.679 billion.