MTN Nigeria was the star performer on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) on Friday, the last trading day of the week. The company’s stock price increased by 1.99%, which translates to a gain of N81.9 billion in equity.
This surge in MTN’s stock price was the main driver behind the marginal increase of 0.04% experienced by the NGX as a whole. The All-Share Index closed at 100,539.4 points, up slightly from yesterday’s 100,503.21 points. The overall market capitalization also saw a modest rise of N30 billion, reaching N56.93 trillion compared to N56.90 trillion the previous day.
Despite the positive performance of the NGX, the broader market sentiment wasn’t entirely bullish.
However, there were more losers than gainers, with 28 stocks closing down compared to only 17 that went up. Additionally, trading activity was the slowest of the week, with the trading volume declining by 3.6% to 372.60 million shares.
Top Gainers
Among the top gainers on the NGX on Friday was Sovereign Trust Insurance, whose stock price climbed 4.26% to N0.49. Custodian Investment wasn’t far behind with a gain of 4.17%, while NAHCO rose 3.41%. The Initiates and FCMB Group also saw significant gains, increasing by 3.37% and 3.25% respectively.
Top Losers
On the losing side, Cutix Plc led the pack after a week of strong gains. The stock price dropped by 8.55% as investors cashed in on profits accumulated between Monday and Thursday. Associated Bus Company (ABCTRANS) also experienced a steep decline of 8.33%, closing at N0.77. Tantalizers Plc wasn’t spared either, with its share price falling by 8.16% to N0.45.
Rounding out the top losers were Red Star Express Plc, whose stock dipped by 5.28% to N3.95, and WAPIC Insurance, which closed down 5.00% at N0.76.
