Despite price losses that outweighed gains, trading on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed an upbeat, yesterday, BUA cement and Ardova lifted the all-share index (ASI) by 0.04 per cent to alter the direction of the market.
At the close of transactions, The ASI rose by 10.25 absolute points, representing a gain of 0.02 per cent to close at 49,171.70 points. Accordingly, investors gained N14 billion in value as market capitalisation went up to N26.531 trillion.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; BUA Cement, Ardova, Sterling Bank, Chams and Jaiz Bank.
Vetiva Dealing and Brokerage said: “As expected, the market reacted negatively to the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) hike as sell-offs were recorded across the board and just like on Monday, price appreciation in BUA cement lifted market performance marginally. Barring any positive movement in any of the heavy-weight names, we still expect the negative sentiment to persist as investors look to the more attractive alternative asset class.”
Chief Executive Officer of Investdata Consulting, Ambrose Omordion said despite the lingering, high-interest rate atmosphere, rising inflation and slowing industrial output as a result of policy changes and uncertainty around the globe, some sectors and stocks are still seeing positive activities from investors.
“Those are stocks that players should be paying attention to, as the correction in the NGX index action creates a buying opportunity in some sectors and individual defensive stocks with high dividend high yield and positive earnings growth,” he added.
However, market breadth closed negative as seven stocks posted gains, while 20 others constituted price depreciation.
Chams Plc recorded the highest price gain of eight per cent to close at 27 kobo. Ardova followed with a gain 7.42 per cent to close at N13.75 kobo while Sovereign Trust Insurance went up by 3.57 per cent to close at 29 kobo.
BUA Cement went up by 3.07 per cent to close at N52, while Jaiz Bank appreciated by 2.07 per cent to close at 76 kobo. Sterling Bank gained two per cent to close at N1.53 kobo. AIICO insurance also appreciated by 1.85 per cent to close at 55 kobo.
On the other hand, Japaul Gold and Ventures led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at 27 kobo. Royal Exchange followed with a decline of 9.8 per cent to close at 92 kobo.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance went down by 8.62 to close at 52 kobo. R.T. Briscoe Nigeria lost 8.57 per cent to close at 32 kobo, while Fidson Healthcare shed 7.54 per cent to close at N9.20 kobo.
Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) lost 6.09 to close at N5.40 kobo. Ikeja Hotel depreciated by five per cent to close at N1.14 kobo. GTCO lost four per cent to close at N18.
AccessCorp dropped 2.98 per cent to close at N8.15 kobo. Redstar Express declined by 2.54 per cent to close at N2.30 kobo.
