Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) ended on a positive note on Friday with the major market indicators pointing north at the close of business.
The market, which went down on Thursday by 0.03 percent on profit taking, reversed the negative trend to finish the day 0.17 percent higher.
The All-Share Index (ASI) recorded a growth of 62.44 points to settle at 36,939.59 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N21.6 billion to finish at N12.8 trillion.
In addition, the market breadth ended positive with 21 price gainers and 19 price losers, while the year-to-date return closed the day at 37.45 percent.
Business Post reports that at the close of business on Friday, the volume of equities traded by investors increased by 13.49 percent from 318.148 million to 361.052 million, while the total value of stocks transacted decreased by 6.79 percent from N3.950 billion to N3.682 billion in 4,396 deals.
Live the previous trading day, the Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 303.97 million shares exchanged for N2.267 billion, while the Consumer Goods industry came second with 31.844 million shares traded for N1.271 billion.
FBN Holdings attracted interests from investors, emerging the most traded stock, exchanging a total of 88.7 million shares worth N628.8 million at the market yesterday.
It was closely followed by UBA, which transacted 50.7 million shares valued at N500.4 million, and Diamond Bank, which sold 29.5 million shares for N30.5 million.
FCMB traded 27.4 million shares at the market on Friday at N29.2 million, while AIICO sold 21 million shares worth N11.4 million.
On the price movement chart, Nestle emerged the highest gainer yesterday, adding N40 to its share value to settle at N1290 per share.
It was followed by Flour Mills of Nigeria, which gained N1.78k to close at N35.47k per share, and Lafarge, which grew by N1.45k to end at N51.45k per share.
PZ Cussons rose by N1.30k to finish at N23 per share, while Eterna appreciated by 27k to close at N4.15k per share.
