The NGX closed on a positive note today, due to buying pressure in the Genos, Telecoms, and Consumer goods sectors. Amidst declining interest in banking stocks, the All-Share Index edged higher above 100,000 points by 0.75% to 100,335 index points on Thursday, marking the start of the NGX’s fourth day of positive trading.

Investors gained N420 billion during this period. The year-to-date return reached 34.2% because of the market valuation increased by 0.75 percent to N56.73 trillion. Strong-basis consumer goods stocks continued to be highly sought after by investors.

Though trading was positive, sentiment in the market remained negative with 26 stocks rising and 34 falling.

MTN Nigeria and Dangote Sugar led the gainers’ chart, closing at N201.30 and N50.6, respectively, after each company gained 10%.

FTN Cocoa and Guinness lost ten percent apiece to close at N1.53 and N45.90 on the decliners chart, while Transcorp lost ninety-five percent to close at N17.10.

The overall traded volume increased by 33.19 percent to 554.72 million units on Thursday, but the overall traded value decreased by 9.11 percent to N17.73 billion, despite a 3.96 percent increase in total deals to 9,708. Overall, the level of market activity was mixed.

In the banking and insurance indexes, which saw declines of 2 percent and 0 percent, respectively, due to investor sell-offs of stocks like FBN Holding, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, and Zenith Bank, the performance was bearish across all sectors. In contrast, investors’ interest in stocks like MTN Nigeria, Dangote Sugar, and Transcorp Power remained strong, as evidenced by the consumer goods and industrial goods indexes closing in the green by 0.62% and 0.01% respectively.

The Oil and Gas index, meanwhile, did not change from the previous close. Transcorp, with 301.36 million shares traded in 2,184 trades and valued at N5.65 billion, emerged as the most traded security by volume and value on Thursday.