Energy Stocks Oil Index by 0.10% as Investors Gain N18bn

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) appreciated on Thursday by 0.10 per cent after the All-Share Index (ASI) was oiled for better performance by equities in the energy sector.

This made the benchmark index of the market to increase by 34.00 points to close at 34,803.00 points as against the previous day’s 34,769.00 points.

In the same vein, it expanded the market capitalisation by N18 billion to N18.185 trillion from N18.167 trillion.

The day’s positive performance in a recession was buoyed by the energy index, which improved by 2.77 per cent. The insurance index gained 0.97 per cent, the consumer goods space gained 0.61 per cent, while the banking counter appreciated by 0.02 per cent, with the industrial goods index closing flat.

The market breadth was at equilibrium on Thursday as a result of the 21 price gainers and 21 price losers.

Mobil Oil topped the gainers’ chart with a price appreciation of N18.80 to close at N208.80 per share, while Guinness Nigeria gained N1.30 to finish at N19.30 per unit.

GTBank rose by 90 kobo to N35.40 per share, Cadbury Nigeria improved by 80 kobo to N9.60 per share, while International Breweries grew by 63 kobo to N7.18 per unit.

At the other side, Dangote Sugar topped the losers’ after depreciating by 65 kobo to settle at N20 per share, while Africa Prudential lost 36 kobo to finish at N5.89 per unit.

Union Bank declined by 30 kobo to N5.50 per share, UBA dropped 25 kobo to sell at N8.25 per share, while FBN Holdings depreciated by 20 kobo to close at N7.25 per unit.

During the session, investors traded 257.6 million stocks worth N3.5 billion in 5,407 deals in contrast to the previous day’s 434.9 million equities worth N6.9 billion traded in 7,029 deals. This indicated that the trading volume fell by 40.78 per cent, the trading value declined by 48.94 per cent and the number of deals decreased by 23.08 per cent.

At the close of transactions, Zenith Bank was the darling of market participants as it traded 40.6 million units of its shares valued at N999.3 million.

Transcorp transacted 23.2 million shares for N23.3 million, Access Bank exchanged 20.9 million equities valued at N180.2 million, UBA traded 18.0 million stocks worth N150.8 million, while Sterling Bank transacted 16.4 million equities valued at N32.0 million.