Naira Stable At Official Market, Crashes At Black Market

By Dipo Olowookere

Transactions at Customs Street, Lagos, were bullish on Thursday on the back of an improvement in market mood, with investor sentiment growing stronger.

According to data obtained from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, the market breadth was positive, as there were 25 price gains and 16 price losers.

International Energy Insurance, which just returned from suspension, topped the risers’ chart yesterday after its stocks gained 9.76 per cent to close at 45 Kobo. CWG appreciated by 9.47 per cent to N1.04, Caverton expanded by 9.38 per cent to N1.05, John Holt grew by 9.09 per cent to 96 Kobo, and Linkage Assurance increased by 8.33 per cent to 52 Kobo.

However, C&I Leasing declined by 10.00 per cent to trade at N3.15, Chams fell by 7.14 per cent to 26 Kobo, Sovereign Trust Insurance also dropped 71.4 per cent to sell at 26 Kobo, UPDC REIT depreciated by 6.06 per cent to N3.10, and Royal Exchange decreased by 5.56 per cent to 85 Kobo.

The financial services industry was the trigger on Thursday as the insurance space grew by 0.36 per cent, the banking counter appreciated by 0.20 per cent, and the industrial goods sector rose by 0.05 per cent, while the consumer goods counter lost 0.03 per cent, with the energy counter closing flat.

Business Post reports that when the market closed for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 10.91 points to close at 52,626.42 points compared with the previous day’s 52,615.51 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N6 billion to N28.664 trillion from N28.658 trillion.

Zenith Bank was the busiest stock on Thursday after transacting 18.6 million units, GTCO traded 18.5 million units, UBA sold 9.7 million units, Royal Exchange exchanged 9.4 million units, and Access Holdings traded 7.7 million units.

At the close of business, a total of 129.0 million shares worth N1.8 billion exchanged hands in 3,183 deals during the session as against the 218.0 million shares worth N4.5 billion traded in 3,377 deals on Wednesday, representing a decline in the trading volume, value and the number of deals by 40.83 per cent, 60.00 per cent, and 5.74 per cent, respectively.