By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session in the first half of 2021 ended on a positive note as the stock market appreciated by 0.71 per cent following buying interest in Nestle Nigeria, Oando and others.
At the market on Wednesday, the All-Share Index (ASI) improved by 266.53 points to 37,907.28 points from 37,640.75 points, while the market capitalisation went up by N138 billion to N19.760 trillion from N19.622 trillion.
Business Post observed that the consumer goods sector mainly lifted the market yesterday as the counter recorded a 4.80 per cent growth, followed by the energy index with 0.70 per cent growth.
However, the banking and insurance sectors went down by 10.00 per cent respectively, while the industrial goods counter closed flat.
Nestle Nigeria recorded the highest price gain, growing by 10.00 per cent to sell at N1540.00 and trailed by Ikeja Hotel, which improved by 9.92 per cent to N1.33.
Oando appreciated by 9.67 per cent to N3.29, Lasaco Assurance gained 9.49 per cent to trade at N1.50, while Linkage Assurance improved by 9.09 per cent to 84 kobo.
Conversely, BOC Gases ended the session with the biggest loss, going down by 10.00 per cent to sell for N8.55 and was trailed by Sovereign Trust Insurance, which went down by 7.14 per cent to trade at 26 kobo.
PZ Cussons depreciated by 7.08 per cent to quote at N5.25, Regency Assurance dropped 6.12 per cent to close at 46 kobo, while Courtville fell by 4.76 per cent to 20 kobo.
In terms of the level of activity, the trading value increased by 18.37 per cent to N3.2 billion from N2.7 billion, the trading volume reduced by 6.68 per cent to 213.7 million stocks from 229.0 million stocks, while the number of deals dropped 4.24 per cent to 3,522 deals from 3,678 deals.
Wema Bank was the most traded stock yesterday with the sale of 18.3 million units worth N10.9 million and was followed by Oando, which transacted 15.6 million units valued at N47.8 million.
Mutual Benefits Assurance transacted 15.1 million shares for N6.3 million, Access Bank sold 13.7 million shares valued at N116.6 million, while UBA traded 13.6 million equities worth N99.0 million.
