Stock market sustains rising profile, as indices appreciate by N66 billion

Transactions on the Nigeria Stock Exchange sustained rising profile yesterday, following buying interest in some blue-chip stocks, resulting to a further increase in market capitalisation by N66 billion.

Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 135.8 points or 0.51 per cent to 26,569.80 points. Accordingly, investors gained N66 billion in value as market capitalisation went up to N12.824 trillion.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Presco, Nigerian Breweries, Guaranty Trust Bank, Dangote Sugar Refinery and Cadbury Nigeria.
Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said “We expect the bullish performance to be sustained in the subsequent session however; we maintain our bearish outlook in the near term.”

Market breadth closed positive as 17 stocks recorded gains relative to 13 losers. Presco recorded the highest price gain of 9.51 per cent, to close at N41.45, per share. Cadbury Nigeria followed with a gain 9.39 per cent to close at N9.90, while UAC of Nigeria (UACN) appreciated by 6.02 per cent to close at N8.80, per share.

Dangote Sugar Refinery went up by 5.96 per cent to close at N16, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance appreciated by 5.41 per cent to close at 39 kobo, per share. On the other hand, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals led the losers’ chart by 9.59 per cent, to close at 66 kobo, per share. Cutix followed with a decline of 9.40 per cent to close at N1.35, while Chams shed 8.82 per cent to close at 31 kobo, per share.

Royal Exchange shed 6.90 per cent to close at 27 kobo, while Union Bank went down by 4.55 per cent to close at N6.30, per share.

Total volume traded increased by 77.6 per cent to 319.69 million shares, worth N3.07 billion, and traded in 2,503 deals. Transactions in the shares of Union Diagnostic & Clinical Services topped the activity chart with 186.99 million shares valued at N41.14 million. Fidelity Bank followed with 99.3 million shares worth N1.06 billion, while Dangote Cement traded 12.32 million shares valued at N1.73 billion.

Zenith Bank traded 10.85 million shares valued at N201.70 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) transacted 8.37 million shares worth N57.35 million.