By Dipo Olowookere
The All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) crossed the 37,000-point threshold on Monday after the market moved up by 1.74 per cent.
This significant growth seen yesterday was influenced by the update on the share buy-back programme of Dangote Cement Plc.
The cement giant informed the investing community on Monday that the much-awaited scheme would begin next week and that up to 85 million units of its stocks would be purchased in two days.
This spurred demand for the company’s equities and at the close of transactions, the ASI was up by 638.65 points to settle at 37,443.40 points as against the previous 36,804.75 points.
Also, the market capitalisation of the bourse increased during the trading day by N334 billion to finish at N19.570 trillion in contrast to N19.236 trillion it ended last Friday.
As earlier stated, the buying pressure on Dangote Cement was majorly the cause of the growth witnessed on Monday and at the close of business, the industrial goods index, under which the stock is categorised, was the best-performing as it grew by 5.46 per cent.
The insurance sector appreciated by 5.16 per cent, the energy index increased by 0.76 per cent, while the banking and consumer goods indices depreciated by 1.05 per cent and 0.14 per cent respectively.
On the price movement chart, Business Post reports that shares of Dangote Cement appreciated on Monday by N20.90 to close at N230.40 per unit.
BOC Gases grew by 72 kobo to end at N7.92 per share, Flour Mills rose by 65 kobo to end at N26.65 per unit, Lafarge Africa gained 50 kobo to trade at N22.50 per share, while PZ Cussons moved up by 35 kobo to close at N5.35 per unit.
The market breadth closed at equilibrium yesterday with 23 price gainers and 23 price losers led by Ardova, which lost 75 kobo to settle at N13.55 per share.
Zenith Bank depreciated by 50 kobo to close at N24.30 per unit, Eterna fell by 45 kobo to N4.10 per share, Unilever Nigeria declined by 40 kobo to N13.95 per unit, while GTBank depleted by 25 kobo to N33.50 per share.
When trading activities were brought to an end on Monday, a total of 427.1 million equities valued at N3.3 billion were exchanged in 5,258 deals compared with the 426.3 million stocks worth N4.4 billion traded in 4,298 deals at the preceding session.
The high trading volume was buoyed by Axa Mansard Insurance, which transacted 90.2 million units of its stocks valued at N91.1 million.
Japaul traded 45.5 million shares worth N16.8 million, Transcorp exchanged 36.6 million equities for N34.2 million, SAHCO sold 24.0 million shares valued at N63.7 million, while AIICO Insurance traded 22.9 million stocks worth N29.6 million.
Adedapo Adesanya