Total, Dangote Cement Lift Equity Market

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Gains recorded by Total Plc and Dangote Cement and 21 other equities on Tuesday provided the needed boost for the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to return to the green zone.

The stock market bounced back after the previous day’s marginal loss to finish 0.22 percent higher, leaving the year-to-date return to close at 37.73 percent.

The Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 211.819 million shares exchanged for N1.1 billion, while the Consumer Goods came next with 55.335 million shares traded for N1.5 billion.

Diamond Bank traded the highest volume of shares at the market, exchanging 83 million shares worth N98.2 million.

It was followed by Fidelity Bank, which sold 39.9 million shares for N66.3 million, and Cadbury, which traded 37.9 million at N391.7 million.

FBN Holdings transacted 34.3 million shares valued at N241 million, while Meyer traded 16.5 million shares worth N11.6 million.

Though the volume of shares traded by investors decreased by 34.59 percent from 466.522 million to 305.171 million, the total value of equities exchanged slightly increased by 0.09 percent from N2.903 billion to N2.905 billion in 4,399 deals.

Business Post reports that the All Share Index (ASI) closed at 37,013.57 against the previous close of 36,930.83, while the market capitalization ended at N12.810 trillion against previous close of N12.782 trillion.

On the price movement chart, Total Plc added N5 to its share price to settle at N230 per share, while Dangote Cement gained N2 to close at N229 per share.

UAC of Nigeria appreciated by 72k to finish at N19.10k per share, GTBank advanced by 28k to end at N42.3k per share, and Dangote Sugar grew by 15k to wrap the day at N15.50k per share.

At the other end, Mobil lost N8.2k to close at N153.1k per share, while International Breweries fell by N4.20k to finish at N41 per share.

Nigerian Breweries sank by 89k to end at N144.10k per share, NASCON depreciated by 48k to finish at N15.52k per share, and Eterna went down by 19k to settle at N4.16k per share.