“Stock market investors gain N3.2bn amid bullish sentiment
By Munachimso Obienyi
Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed on a positive note as investors’ wealth grew by N3.22 billion at the close of business on Tuesday.
The market had seen a lot of sell-offs in stocks in few days but increased demand in the shares of FBN Holdings and Zenith Bank drove the benchmark index up albeit marginally by 0.01 per cent to settle at 49,445.31 points.
Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return increased to 15.75 per cent, while the market capitalisation rose by N3.22 billion to close at N26.67 trillion. Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Oil & Gas (-2.3 per cent) and Consumer Goods (-0.1 per cent) indices closed lower, while the Banking (+0.2 per cent) and Insurance (+0.2 per cent) indices recorded gains. The Industrial Goods index closed flat.
According to data obtained from the NGX’s website by NwafoLive, trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions increasing by 61.72 per cent. Specifically, a total of 147.59 million shares valued at N2.39 billion were exchanged in 3,323 deals.
GTCO (-0.51 per cent) led the volume chart with 35.82 million units traded, while MTNN (-0.05 per cent) led the value chart in deals worth N860.43 million.
Market breadth closed negative at a 1.3-to-1 ratio with declining issues outnumbering advancing ones. TOTAL (-9.98 per cent) topped twelve (12) others on the laggard’s table, while RTBRISCOE (+10.00 per cent) led nine (9) others on the gainers’ chart.
