Index up by 3.88% as Investors Gain N436b

By Dipo Olowookere

Investors at the Nigerian stock market on Monday were N436 billion richer as a result of the good performance put up by some large-cap stocks at the market.

During the trading session, large-cap counters like Nestle Nigeria, Dangote Cement and others lifted the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by 3.88 percent to reduce the year-to-date loss by 16.41 percent.

Specifically, the All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 1193.37 points to finish at 31,967.01 points, while the market capitalisation went up by N436 billion to settle at N11.677 trillion.

At the market on Christmas eve, the volume of shares exchanged by investors increased by 269.45 percent from 193.5 million to 715 million, while the value appreciated by 41.69 percent from N3.7 billion to N5.2 billion.

These trades were dominated by financial stocks, which accounted for 609.7 million units worth N2.8 billion, while the equities in the services sector followed with a turnover of 56.3 million units valued at N101 million.

NEM Insurance was the busiest stock at the market on Monday, exchanging a total of 508.7 million units of its shares worth N1.5 billion.

Following were Med-View Airline, which sold 54.8 million shares valued at N98.1 million, and GTBank, which transacted 26 million equities worth N892 million.

Transcorp traded 19.4 million shares for N23.8 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 9.5 million equities worth N218.8 million.

On the price movement chart, Nestle Nigeria emerged the best performing stock after gaining N147 to close at N1617.10k per share.

Seplat appreciated by N58.40k to settle at N642.90k per share, while Dangote Cement went up by N7 to end at N194 per share.

Stanbic IBTC increased its share value by N4.60k to quote at N50.60k per unit, while Forte Oil gained N2.80k to close at N31.25k per share.

Conversely, Lafarge Africa closed the day as the worst performing stock after topping the losers’ chart with a loss of 10 kobo to finish at N12.50k per share.

United Capital depreciated by 6 kobo to end at N2.82k per share, while Guinea Insurance declined by 2 kobo to finish at 23 kobo per share. Both Tantalizer and John Holt lost one kobo each to close at 20 kobo and 44 kobo per share respectively.