Nigerian Stocks Pause 7-day Loss with 1.11% Gain

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) returned to the positive territory on Wednesday after it appreciated by 1.11 percent to push the year-to-date return forward to 10.27 percent.

This 1.11 percent growth at the market yesterday put an end to the 7-day losing streak on the floor of the NSE.

Business Post reports that bargain hunting activities by investors on Wednesday buoyed the gains recorded by equities in the banking and consumer goods sectors, which rubbed off the loss on the market’s heavyweight, Dangote Cement.

The market breadth finished positive with 25 price gainers against 20 price losers and Nestle was the biggest price gainer yesterday with an appreciation of N25 to settle at N1345 per share.

It was trailed by Beta Glass, which rose by N3.40k to close at N72.10k per share, and Zenith Bank went up by N1.50k to end at N31.50k per share.

Nigerian Breweries advanced by N1.20k to finish at N129 per share, while Flour Mills grew by 90k to close at N32.40k per share.

At the other side, Total Plc led the price loser chart, depreciating by N1 to end at N229 per share, and was followed by Forte Oil went down by 80k to settle at N45 per share.

Okomu Oil fell by 50k to finish at N72 per share, Dangote Cement declined by 30k to close at N258.40k per share, while NASCON slumped by 25k to finish at N20.75k per share.

Business Post reports that volume and value of transactions at the stock market yesterday increased by 10.67 percent and 28.11 percent respectively.

A total of 520.7 million equities worth N4.7 billion exchanged hands in 5,694 deals on Wednesday against 470.5 million shares traded on Tuesday in 6,309 deals valued at N3.7 billion.

Skye Bank was very busy yesterday, trading a total of 113.2 million shares worth N122 million.

FCMB sold 54 million shares valued at N146 million, while UBA transacted 42 million worth N487.6 million.

Furthermore, Diamond Bank traded 38 million equities for N104.9 million, while GTBank exchanged 35.8 million shares worth N1.6 billion.

Business Post expects the growth recorded at the market on Wednesday to be extended today as more bargain hunting activities occur.