Stock Market Begins 2021 on High Note, Gains N458bn

By Dipo Olowookere

The first trading session of the new year, 2021, on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) started on a positive note on Monday, January 4.

Business Post reports that the bourse closed 2.18 per cent higher during the session as a result of sustained interest in local equities by investors.

All the sectors of the market closed in the green territory yesterday with the industrial goods index leading the pack, rising by 4.66 per cent at the close of trading activities.

The insurance sector appreciated by 4.39 per cent, the banking space grew by 3.68 per cent, the consumer goods counter improved by 1.41 per cent, while the oil/gas space appreciated by 0.09 per cent.

When the market wrapped up the day by 2:30pm, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 876.67 points to settle at 41,147.39 points versus 40,270.72 points it ended the previous session.

Also, the market capitalisation grew by N458 billion to finish at N21.515 trillion as against N21.057 trillion it closed at the last trading session of 2020.

Despite the gains recorded on Monday, the level of activity waned as the trading volume dropped 70.18 per cent to 211.9 million shares from 710.7 million shares, the trading value reduced by 86.04 per cent to N1.4 billion from N10.1 billion, while the number of deals went down by 21.79 per cent to 3,438 deals from 4,396 deals.

The huge trade in the shares of AIICO Insurance continued on Monday at the exchange, closing as the most active stock after trading 87.5 million shares worth N99.0 million.

FCMB sold 19.7 million shares valued at N60.1 million, Transcorp transacted 12.8 million equities for N12.6 million, Lafarge Africa exchanged 10.0 million stocks for N223.0 million, while Access Bank traded 9.6 million shares for N85.4 million.

Only two stocks depreciated yesterday and they were FCMB and Caverton. The former lost 20 kobo to finish at N3.13 per unit, while the latter depreciated by 7 kobo to close at N1.98 per share.

However, a total of 33 equities ended on the gainers’ chart during the session and the table was led by BUA Cement, which gained N7.65 to settle at N85 per share.

Lafarge Africa rose by N1.90 to close at N22.95 per unit, GTBank grew by N1.15 to sell at N33.50 per share, Flour Mills appreciated by 95 kobo to quote at N26.95 per unit, while Dangote Sugar improved by 90 kobo to close at N18.50 per share.