Stock Market Closes In Positive Territory As Investors Rake In N34bn

Investors on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited raked in N34 billion by end of trading activities on Monday.

The Insurance sector grew by 0.22% while the banking and the consumer goods sectors appreciated by 0.12 per cent each, as the energy space rose by 0.03 per cent, and the industrial goods sector closed flat.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 63.01 points to 52,657.69 points from 52,594.68 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N34 billion to N28.681 trillion from N28.647 trillion.

The level of activity was mixed on Monday as the trading volume was down by 67.62 per cent to 143.7 million stocks from the 443.8 million stocks recorded last Friday.

However, the trading value improved by 5.88 per cent to N1.8 billion from N1.7 billion, and the number of deals jumped by 31.55 per cent to 4,078 deals from 3,100 deals.

FBN Holdings was on top of the activity chart after it transacted 19.7 million shares, Chams traded 11.2 million equities, GTCO exchanged 11.0 million stocks, Transcorp sold 10.6 million shares, and Sterling Bank transacted 10.2 million equities.

The market breadth was positive yesterday, as the bourse printed 18 price gainers and 13 price losers, indicating a strong investor sentiment.

The best-performing stock was John Holt, which gained 9.38 per cent to trade at N1.05, followed by Secure Electronic Technology, which appreciated by 9.09 per cent to 24 Kobo as investors reacted to the release of the company’s 2022 fourth-quarter earnings. Chams rose by 7.69 per cent to 28 Kobo, Geregu Power improved by 6.92 per cent to N148.40, and ABC Transport climbed higher by 6.90 per cent to 31 Kobo.

Conversely, Cornerstone Insurance ended the trading session as the worst-performing stock after it shed 10.00 per cent to 54 Kobo, CWG lost 9.62 per cent to finish at 94 Kobo, Japaul dropped 6.67 per cent to 28 Kobo, Unity Bank depreciated by 5.17 per cent to 55 Kobo, and Courteville shrank by 4.00 per cent to 48 Kobo.