Equities Rally N188b as Bargain-Hunting Persists

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

For the third trading sessions, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) finished on Friday in the green territory.

Gains recorded by blue-chip stocks further pushed the stock market northward by 1.53 percent to expand the year-to-date gain to 35.15 percent.

Business Post reports that the market breadth ended positive today with 32 appreciating stocks against 11 declining equities.

In addition, the All-Share Index (ASI) improved by 546.95 points to settle at 36,320.93 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N188.3 billion to close at N12.5 trillion.

The renew confidence of investors in the stock market reflected in the volume and value of shares transacted on the floor of the NSE, which increased on Friday, with 367 million equities worth N3.7 billion exchanged hands compared with 317.4 million shares valued at N2.9 billion traded on Thursday by investors.

At the close of business today, banking stocks were investors’ toast at the market with Diamond Bank emerging the most traded equity by volume, exchanging 112.4 million units valued at N120.4 million.

FBN Holdings transacted 62.7 million shares worth N371.8 million, while Zenith Bank exchanged 46.2 million at N1.2 billion.

In addition, Access Bank traded 42.3 million shares valued at N415.5 million, while UBA exchanged 20.7 million shares worth N195.6 million.

On the price movement chart, Seplat emerged the biggest gainer, adding N22.49k to its share value to settle at N472.49k per share.

Furthermore, Nigerian Breweries grew by N6.40k to close at N170 per share, while Presco increased by N6.5k to finish at N68 per share.

In addition, Mobil advanced by N4.28k to end at N166 per share, while Lafarge progressed by N3.21k to wrap the day at N57.31k per share.