By Chiamaka Okechukwu
Equities transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Group Limited maintained a positive momentum for three straight days this week.
The market indices, with the benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI), inched up 268.98 basis points, or 0.19%, to close at 142,979.46 points, compared to 142,710.48 points recorded the previous day.
This figure represents a one-week gain of 1.61%, a four-week gain of 3.03%, and an overall year-to-date gain of 38.91%.
Similarly, the market capitalisation of listed equities appreciated by ₦170 billion to close at ₦90.751 trillion, higher than Tuesday’s ₦90.580 trillion.
Other notable indices that performed positively included the NGX Insurance Index (+0.42%), NGX Consumer Goods Index (+0.35%), NGX Main Board Index (+0.25%), NGX Pension Index (+0.20%), and NGX Banking Index (+0.17%).
At the end of Thursday’s trading session at the Exchange, a total of 785,342,487 units of shares in 32,669 deals, corresponding to a market value of ₦29,390,098,748.99, were traded.
When compared with the previous NGX trading day (Tuesday, September 30), Thursday’s data showed a 37% decline in volume, a 1% decline in turnover, but a 17% improvement in deals.
Wednesday was a public holiday to celebrate Nigeria’s Independence Anniversary.
Overall, 130 NGX-listed equities participated in trading, ending with 34 gainers and 26 losers.
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PZ Cussons Nigeria led the gainers’ list with 10% share price appreciation, closing at ₦37.95 per share, followed by Eterna with +9.94%, Champion Breweries with +9.82%, and Tantalizers with +5.96%.
On the losing side, RT Briscoe came last with an end-of-day price depreciation of 9.89% at ₦3.37 per share, followed by Thomas Wyatt Nigeria (-9.82%), Sovereign Trust Insurance (-9.33%), and International Energy Insurance (-7.78%).
United Bank for Africa recorded the highest volume with 152 million traded shares, followed by Wema Bank with 152 million, FBN Holdings with 112 million, and Zenith Bank with 47.1 million.