By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Gains recorded by Dangote Cement and some other blue-chip equities pushed the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to the green territory on Tuesday.
The local stock market closed yesterday’s trading session 0.34 percent higher, leaving the year-to-date return at -19.68 percent.
The growth posted by the market was mainly influenced by the 103.99 points garnered by the All-Share Index (ASI) to close at 30,718.72 points, and the N44 billion raked by the market capitalisation to finish at N11.221 trillion.
Business Post reports that there was an improvement in the volume and value of transactions during the trading day as the volume of shares exchanged by investors increased by 30.86 percent from 164.6 million to 215.4 million, while the value appreciated by 103.96 percent from N1.7 billion to N3.4 billion.
These trades were dominated by the Financial Services sector with 189.7 million shares exchanged for N2.2 billion, with the Oil and Gas sector following with a turnover of 8.4 million equities worth N149 million.
Zenith Bank was the busiest stock at the local bourse yesterday, recording a total turnover of 58.3 million units of its stock sold for N1.4 billion.
It was followed by Sterling Bank, which sold 35.1 million units worth N63.2 million, and FBN Holdings, which transacted 25.6 million units valued at N191.9 million.
Diamond Bank traded 17.1 million equities for N16.8 million, while Fidelity Bank exchanged 11.2 million equities worth N21.3 million.
On the price movement chart, Dangote Cement topped the gainers’ table with a gain of N1.30k to settle at N185.50k per share.
Flour Mills rose by N1 to finish at N21 per share, while Forte Oil appreciated by 85 kobo to close at N20 per share.
UAC of Nigeria increased by 60 kobo to end at N9.90k per share, while Cadbury Nigeria improved by 50 kobo to quote at N9.95k per share.
On the flip side, CCNN emerged as the worst performing stock on Tuesday after losing 50 kobo of its share price to close at N16 per share.
GTBank went down by 35 kobo to settle at N34.40k per share, while C&I Leasing declined by 19 kobo to finish at N1.75k per share. NAHCO suffered a 10 kobo loss at yesterday’s trading session to end at N3.35k per share, while NEM Insurance also depreciated by 10 kobo to close at N2.25k per share.
