Stock Market Gains N408bn as MTN Nigeria Listing Frenzy Persists

By Dipo Olowookere

Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) maintained its upward momentum on Wednesday, appreciating by 3.07 percent to reduce the year-to-date loss to 0.91 percent.

Business Post reports that the local bourse recorded a gain of N408 billion yesterday despite the losses printed by some large cap stocks like GTBank, Zenith Bank, Nestle Nigeria and others.

It was observed that the positive drive was influenced by the continued hype around the listing of MTN Nigeria last Thursday as the demand for the stock grows by the day.

At the close of the midweek trading session, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 927.01 points, crossing the 31,000 psychological mark to finish at 31,145.15 points against 30,218.14 points of the previous session.

Also, the market capitalisation grew yesterday by N408 billion to settle at N13.718 trillion against N13.310 trillion in the previous day.

Like in the previous trading session, the activity level was mixed with the volume of transactions going down by 12.22 percent to 294.6 million from 335.6 million, while the value of the trades went up by 1.65 percent to N17.5 billion from N17.2 billion.

For the third consecutive time this week, MTN Nigeria topped the activity chart with a turnover of 93.7 million units sold for N13.6 billion.

Zenith Bank traded 29.5 million units worth N566.6 million while UBA exchanged 22.4 million equities valued at N129.6 million.

Access Bank transacted 21.4 million shares for N127.9 million, while GTBank sold 16.6 million equities for N516.6 million.

On the price movement chart, Dangote Cement topped the gainers’ chart with a price appreciation of N18 to finish at N203 per unit.

MTN Nigeria followed with a gain of N13.15k to close at N144.85k, while GlaxoSmithKline improved by 45 kobo to end at N8.95k per share.

Vitafoam rose by 38 kobo to settle at N4.25k per unit, while UAC Nigeria increased its share value by 15 kobo to close at N6.60k per share.

At the other side, Nestle Nigeria emerged the heaviest price losers after going down by N110 to close at N1320 per share.

Ecobank depreciated by 85 kobo to finish at N9.15k per share, while GTBank lost 80 kobo to close at N30.50k per unit.

Zenith Bank went down by 50 kobo to finish at N19 per share, while Nigerian Breweries declined by 45 kobo to end at N61.70k per share.