By Dipo Olowookere
For the first time this week, the Nigerian stock market finished bullish, closing 0.65 percent higher.
Business Post reports that bargain hunting activities as well as gains recorded by Dangote Cement and other stocks lifted the spirit of investors at the market today.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had had to battle with profit taking for the past three sessions this week until Dangote Cement came to its rescue on Thursday.
At the close of business today, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 244.15 points to close at 37,743.22 points, while the market capitalisation appreciated by N88 billion to settle at N13.673 trillion.
Dangote Cement, which topped the gainers’ table today, rose by N5 to close at N228 per share, while Nigerian Breweries followed with a gain of N2 to close at N113 per share.
Furthermore, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) grew by N1.10k to close at N24.30 per share, Julius Berger went up by 90 Kobo to end at N28.95k per share, while Dangote Sugar improved by 65 kobo to close at N19 per share.
Conversely, Mobil Oil Nigeria posted the highest price loss today after losing N15 of its share value to settle at N175 per share.
It was followed by Flour Mills, which went down by N1.75k to close at N31 per share, and International Breweries, which depreciated by N1.35k to close at N41 per share.
UAC of Nigeria fell by 35 Kobo today to close at N13.55k per share, while NEM Insurance lost 30 kobo to close at N3.10k per share.
While the volume of shares traded by investors today decreased by 0.52 percent, the value went up by 88.31 percent.
A total of 503.1 million shares were traded on Thursday in 3,710 deals worth N5.9 billion in contrast to the 505.7 million valued at N3.1 billion sold on Wednesday at the market.
It was observed that the Financial Services sector led the activity chart today with 444.3 million shares exchanged for N5.1 billion, while the Oil and Gas thanks industry followed with 21.4 million shares traded for N86 million.
But UBA emerged the toast of investors today with the firm selling a total of 294.9 million shares worth N3.1 billion.
It was followed by Zenith Bank, which traded 38.3 million equities for N930.7 million, and Access Bank, which exchanged 34.4 million shares worth N356.1 million.
GTBank transacted 13.7 million shares valued at N546.1 million, while FBN Holdings sold 11.8 million equities valued at N123.5 million.
With the gains recorded, investors would be expecting the market to maintain today’s momentum tomorrow when the market resumes for the last time this week.
