By Dipo Olowookere
Gains in the energy sector lifted the local equity market on Wednesday, though marginally by 0.06 percent.
The growth was enough to lift the spirits of investors, who have had to endure losses for three consecutive sessions.
The energy index appreciated by 2.66 percent and this was boosted by bargain hunting in Mobil Nigeria and Total Nigeria.
The insurance sector appreciated by 1.92 percent, the banking counter gained 0.63 percent, the consumer goods grew by 0.39 percent, while the industrial goods space closed flat.
The All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 13.54 points at the midweek session to 23,709.44 points from 23,695.90 points.
Also, the market capitalisation gained N7 billion to settle at N12.356 trillion as against N12.349 trillion of the prior day.
Business Post reports that the market breadth was positive yesterday with 20 price gainers and 8 price losers.
Mobil Nigeria was the best performing stock. The energy stock gained N16 at the session to settle at N176.90 per unit.
Total Nigeria appreciated by N6.50 to close at N102.80 per share, Unilever Nigeria increased by N1.15 to sell at N12.70 per share, Stanbic IBTC improved by 75 kobo to trade at N29.25 per unit, while GTBank grew by 45 kobo to quote at N21.45 per share.
On the losers’ chart, MTN Nigeria occupied the top position after shedding N1.60 to finish at N110 per share, while Fidson decreased by 7 kobo to settle at N2.39 per share, with UBA, UPDC REIT and Champion Breweries losing 5 kobo each to close at N6.05 per share, N3.35 per share and 76 kobo per share respectively.
A total of 159.2 million equities worth N1.5 billion were traded in 3,573 deals on Wednesday in contrast to the 155.7 million shares valued at N1.7 billion transacted on Tuesday in 4,005 deals.
This showed that while the volume of transactions increased by 2.24 percent, the value and number of deals executed at the session reduced by 8.06 percent and 10.79 percent respectively.
FBN Holdings was the most trade equity at the market, trading 50.8 million units valued at N242.1 million, while Access Bank transacted 10.9 million units worth N68.6 million.
UBA exchanged 9.8 million equities valued at N59.5 million, Regency Alliance traded 7.5 million shares for N1.5 million, while Zenith Bank traded 7.4 million stocks for N111.8 million.
