By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The first day of this trading week started on a positive note at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as equities appreciated by 0.51 percent on Monday. This reduced the year-to-date loss to 15.74 percent.
Though the volume and value of transactions recorded yesterday reduced, some investors used the opportunity of the present low valuation of stocks at the market to accumulate shares they believe will yield good returns in the short term.
Oando recorded heavy activities yesterday resulting in its emergence as the most traded stock with a turnover of 30.3 million units sold for N154.2 million.
This was followed by Diamond Bank, which exchanged 16.4 million stocks worth N14.5 million, and UBA, which transacted 12.9 million shares valued at N100.2 million.
Fidelity Bank traded 11.5 million equities worth N22.7 million, while GTBank exchanged 9.2 million shares for N338.6 million.
At the close of the market, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 163.96 points to finish at 32,222.24 points, while the market capitalisation pushed up by N60 billion to settle at N11.764 trillion.
As earlier stated, the volume of shares traded on the local bourse yesterday reduced by 9.84 percent from 164.3 million to 148.1 million, while the value dropped by 35.59 percent from N2.8 billion to N1.8 billion.
These transactions were mainly dominated by the financial stocks with a turnover of 87.1 million units sold for N743 million, while equities in the Oil and Gas sector following with 32.3 million units exchanged for N286 million.
On the price movement chart, Nestle Nigeria topped the gainers’ chart with N20 added to its share price to close at N1500 per share.
Nigerian Breweries increased its share value on Monday by N2.20k to settle at N85 per share, while GlaxoSmithKlime rose by N1.20k to finish at N13.25k per share.
Flour Mills appreciated by 80 Kobo on Monday to close at N18 per share, while Total Nigeria improved by 40 Kobo to end at N199.50k per share.
On the other hand, Forte Oil put up a weak performance yesterday, resulting in its N1.60k loss, finishing at N19 per share at the close of business.
Wapic Insurance dropped 2 Kobo to close at 40 Kobo per share, while Mutual Benefits Assurance also lost 2 Kobo to finish at 23 Kobo per share, with Union Diagnostics going down by the same 2 Kobo to quote at 23 Kobo per share.
Business Post reports that Diamond Bank continued its free fall on Monday after declining by one Kobo to settle at 89 Kobo per share.
Adedapo Adesanya