By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of this week on Customs Street ended on a positive note on Friday, as the bulls lifted the bourse by 0.18 per cent despite weak investor sentiment.
During the trading day, 23 equities finished on the gainers’ chart, while 31 equities ended on the losers’ table, indicating a negative market breadth index.
The gains were primarily driven by buying interest in three of the five sectors, while profit-taking was recorded in the financial services space, as the banking index was down by 0.95 per cent, and the insurance closed 0.71 per cent lower.
However, the consumer goods segment grew by 0.16 per cent, the energy counter also appreciated by 0.16 per cent, and the industrial goods sector expanded by 0.02 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) moved up by 321.05 points to 248,363.55 points from 248,042.50 points, and the market capitalisation improved by N208 billion to N161.260 trillion from N161.052 trillion.
Regency Alliance gained 10.00 per cent to settle at 77 Kobo, Livestock Feeds increased by 9.58 per cent to N13.15, Guinea Insurance surged by 9.41 per cent to 93 Kobo, CAP advanced by 8.50 per cent to N108.50, and UPDC added 7.69 per cent to quote at N4.20.
But Red Star Express depreciated by 9.76 per cent to N13.40, Fidelity Bank slipped by 8.70 per cent to N21.00, DAAR Communications lost 8.00 per cent to settle at N1.38, Coronation Insurance declined by 7.26 per cent to N2.30, and Omatek slumped by 6.94 per cent to N1.34.
Market participants transacted 322.0 million stocks for N20.5 billion in 37,810 deals yesterday compared with the 492.2 million stocks worth N38.0 billion traded in 38,711 deals the previous day, representing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 34.58 per cent, 46.05 per cent, and 2.33 per cent, respectively.
A look at the activity log showed that Zenith Bank remained on top, with a turnover of 31.7 million shares valued at N4.3 billion. GTCO exchanged 23.5 million equities worth N3.1 billion, Access Holdings traded 19.2 million stocks for N567.9 million, Fidelity Bank sold 17.6 million shares worth N381.2 million, and Guinea Insurance transacted 13.6 million equities valued at N12.6 million.
