Banking Stocks Sustain NSE Upward Swing by 0.48%

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) resumed trading activities for the week on Monday on a bullish note as investors await the filing of half year financial statements of companies listed on the NSE.

Banking stocks were investors’ toast today as the key market indicators closed in the green zone.

GTBank was the most active, exchanging 26.5 million shares worth NN909 million, and was closely followed by FCMB, accounting for 18.7 million units traded at N23.2 million.

Zenith Bank transacted 15.7 million shares for N330.2 million, Diamond Bank traded 13.9 million shares valued at N17.2 million, and First Bank exchanged 11.5 million units worth N71.3 million.

However, the total volume of shares pulled on Monday declined, same with the value of traded equities when compared with what was achieved last Friday.

Investors exchanged 182 million shares worth N2.13 billion in 3,710 deals in contrast to 212.4 million shares traded in 3,217 deals last Friday valued at N2.5 billion.

On the price movement chart, Flour Mills emerged the highest gainer at the market on Monday, closing at N25 per share after adding N2.22k to its share price.

Zenith Bank followed after gaining 71k to close at N21.31k per share, while Ecobank progressed by 48k to finish at N12.87k per share.

Access Bank picked 45k to end at N9.58 per share, while UBA appreciated by 42k to settle at N8.92 per share.

Conversely, Seplat lost N2 to close the day at N465 per share, and was trailed by Nigerian Breweries, which sank by 99k to end at N153.1k per share.

Union Bank deflated by 54k to finish at N5.58k per share, Cadbury depreciated by 51k to settle at N11.99k per share, while Stanbic IBTC declined by 50k to finish at N31 per share.

An analysis of the market indices showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 155.43 points to close at 32,614.60 points, while the market capitalisation moved up by N53.6 billion to finish at N11.24 trillion.

The year-to-date return closed on Monday at 21.38 percent, while the market breadth ended positive with 26 advances versus 15 decliners.