Investors gain N130bn amid moderation in trade volume, deals

Trading activities on the Nigerian Exchange Limited moderated on Tuesday even as the investors gained N130bn at the close of trading.

Both the All-Share Index and the market capitalisation appreciated by 0.33 per cent to close at 71,907.26 basis points and N39.348tn respectively, which marked a consecutive day of positive trading on the local bourse. The year-to-date gain of the ASI rose to 40.30 per cent.

Even as the market continued to trend positively, the volume of traded stocks and the number of deals declined by 14.86 per cent and 7.32 per cent respectively to close at 6,498 deals and 319.56 million units. Meanwhile, the total traded value for the day appreciated by 52.54 per cent to N5.88bn from N3.85bn on Monday.

The sectorial performance revealed a bearish trend as three out of five stocks closed in the red zone. NGX Insurance, NGX Oil/Gas and NGX Industrial Goods indexes declined by 0.49 per cent, 1.03 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.

However, both the Banking and Consumer Goods indices were positive as they advanced by 0.67 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.

At the close of the day, the exchange recorded more losers, 25, than gainers, 24.

Stocks of interest to investors on Tuesday were those of Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank, SCOA, Daar Communications, Royal Exchange and Neimeth as their share prices experienced appreciable gains of 9.79 per cent, 9.46 per cent, 8.82 per cent, 8.47 per cent and 7.89 per cent, respectively.

The stocks that drove the market were primarily tier-1 banking stocks which include Zenith Bank, AccessCorp and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc. FCMB’s stocks were also one of the most traded.

At the close of the trading session, Julius Berger emerged as the most actively traded security in terms of volume and value with 42.54 million units worth N1.46bn, across 42