The daily trading volume on the Nigerian Exchange Limited surged by an impressive 98 percent to reach 1.12 billion units on Thursday, resulting in investor losses of N35 billion by the end of the trading session.
The preceding day, Wednesday, saw a reported volume of traded equities at 566,631,350 units valued at N5.39 billion.
Despite this remarkable increase in trading volume, the total trade value on Thursday only experienced an eight percent rise, reaching N5.82 billion.
Additionally, the total number of deals declined by 3.07 percent to 7,949.
Based on NGX data, the surge in trading volume was primarily driven by Universal Insurance, which witnessed the exchange of 669,012,278 million units of its shares, totaling N134.21 million, across 148 deals. Oando Plc followed closely with the exchange of 100,687,873 units of shares valued at N1.46 billion, occurring in 1,656 deals.
Other notable stocks with substantial trading volume include Japaul Gold, which saw 43,738,795 units traded, worth N43.39 million, Accesscorp with 40,144,810 units valued at N681.95 million, and UBA with 32,450,979 million units traded, totaling N552.75 million.
The overall market capitalization and the NGX All-Share Index both dipped by 0.09 percent at the close of the trading session, reaching N37.365 trillion and 68,271.14 basis points, respectively. The market was characterized by bearish sentiment, with 30 losers compared to 20 gainers.
Among the top gainers were John Holt, whose shares appreciated by 9.55 percent to close at N1.72 per unit. Omatek and Daar Communications both gained 9.52 percent, closing at N0.46 and N0.23, respectively.
Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc also experienced a 9.30 percent gain, closing at N0.47, while Sunu Assurance’s stock rose by 9.09 percent to N0.96 per unit.
On the other hand, Oando led the list of losers with a 9.93 percent depreciation, closing at N13.15 per unit. Lasaco lost 9.71 percent of its share value, closing at N1.86. Chams’ shares dipped by 9.59 percent, closing at N1.32, and Northern Nigerian Flour Mills Plc’s shares lost 9.23 percent, reaching N15.25. Tantalizer’s share price also depreciated by 8.57 percent to N0.32 per unit.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has called upon foreign investors to consider bringing their capital into Nigeria, emphasizing that his administration is actively working on facilitating the free flow of capital.
Tinubu made this statement just before he rang the closing bell of NASDAQ in New York during a ceremony organized by the United States Chamber of Commerce, Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council on Wednesday night.
