Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
It was a brief trading week as the market opened for three days in observance of the public holidays (Tuesday, December 25 and Wednesday, December 26, 2018) declared by the Federal Government of Nigeria to mark the Christmas celebrations.
But at the close of the week, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as well as the market capitalization appreciated by 0.86 percent to close at 31,037.72 points and N11.337 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of the NSE Premium, NSE Insurance and NSE Industrial Goods Indices that depreciated by 1.46 percent, 0.83 percent and 0.99 percent respectively, while the NSE ASeM index closed flat.
A total of 52 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 49 in the previous week, while 18 equities depreciated in price, lower than 23 of the previous week, and 94 equities remained unchanged lower than 97 equities recorded in the preceding week.
Meanwhile, a total turnover of 3.1 billion shares worth N14.4 billion in 10,394 deals were traded in the week by investors on the floor of the exchange in contrast to a total of 1.472 billion shares valued at N18.7 billion that exchanged hands in the previous week in 15,610 deals.
The Financial Services sector, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 2.6 billion shares valued at N9.4 billion traded in 5,631 deals, contributing 82.38 percent and 65.49 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
This was followed by the Services industry with 386 million shares worth N974.2 million in 236 deals, while the third place was occupied by the Conglomerates sector with a turnover of 88.8 million shares worth N141.9 million in 613 deals.
Trading in the top three equities; NEM Insurance, Wema Bank and Medview Airline accounted for 2.4 billion shares worth N5.5 billion in 291 deals, contributing 77.18 percent and 38.58 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Also traded during the week were a total of 25,500 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N1.782 million executed in 15 deals compared with a total of 880,145 units valued at N6.742 million transacted a week earlier in 5 deals.
In addition, a total of 686 units of Federal Government Bonds worth N689,162.04 were traded in the week in 3 deals compared with a total of 14,068 units valued at N12.701 million transacted the previous week in 23 deals.
