Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Investors at the nation’s stock market had something to be happy about on Thursday as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed bullish, going up by 1.09 percent.
This was majorly influenced by renewed bargain hunting witnessed at the market yesterday, which reduced the year-to-date loss to 12.25 percent at the close of transactions.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 296.8 points to settle at 27,579.85 points, while the market capitalization went up by N144.5 billion to finish at N13.426 trillion.
However, unlike in the two previous, where the volume of transactions increased, at yesterday’s session, the volume and value of equities traded by investors reduced by 60.32 percent and 63.08 percent respectively.
A total of 183.5 million shares worth N2.9 billion were traded in 2,576 deals on Thursday in contrast to the 462.3 million shares valued at N7.9 billion transacted in 2,895 deals.
Access Bank emerged the most traded stock at the market, transacting 67.3 million units worth N509.8 million, while GTBank traded 23.2 million equities valued at N651.7 million.
Transcorp sold 14.1 million valued at N14.3 million, Lafarge Africa exchanged 10.4 million shares for N156.6 million, while FBN Holdings traded 8.7 million equities worth N47.9 million.
On the price movement chart, Nestle Nigeria recorded the highest price appreciation after going up by N121.50 to close at N1336.50 per unit, with Seplat following after rising by N46 to end at N506 per share.
Total Nigeria gained N10 to settle at N110 per unit, Access Bank improved by 50 kobo to close at N7.70 per unit, while Dangote Sugar appreciated by 20 kobo to finish at N10.90 per share.
On the other side, Forte Oil recorded the heaviest price loss after going down by N1.15 to close at N15.80 per share, while GTBank and Custodian Investment went down by 30 kobo each to settle at N27.95 and N6 respectively.
Dangote Flour reduced its share price by 10 kobo to finish at N22.20 per share, while Honeywell Flour depreciated by 6 kobo to close at 95 kobo per unit.
