Last Minute Rally in Dangote Cement Lifts Stock Market by 0.59%

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Last minute rally in Dangote Cement on Thursday pushed back the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to winning ways again.

Investors have had to endure three consecutive bearish sessions at the market, which dropped the All-Share Index (ASI) below the 37,000 mark during the period, and the market capitalisation below N13 trillion.

Though both market indicators still remained within respective ranges, the ASI rose by 0.59 percent or 214.20 points to settle at 36,316.58 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N74 billion to close at N12.52 trillion.

Dangote Cement led the gainers’ chart today after progressing by N5.80k to close at N219.80k per share.

It was trailed by Flour Mills of Nigeria, which advanced by N1.36k to finish at N28.89k per share, and Total Plc, which expanded by N1.11k to settle at N228.11k per share.

In addition, Zenith Bank rose by 51k to close at N23.1k per share, while Dangote Sugar, which commenced payment of dividend to its shareholders today, added 20k to its share price to end at N13 per share.

Conversely, Mobil emerged the heaviest loser with N11.84k loss to close at N225.6k per share, while Nestle followed with a fall of N10 to end at N1,210 per share.

Furthermore, Guinness lost N2.96k to close at N85 per share, Nigerian Breweries fell by N1 to close at N184 per share, and Lafarge declined by 50k to settle at N58.50k per share.

Business Post reports that the volume and value of shares transacted today finish slightly higher with investors trading a total of 225 million shares worth N5.5 billion executed in 5,110 deals.

This was in contrast to 224.8 million shares transacted yesterday in 4,822 deals valued at N5.1 billion.

A breakdown of volume of equities traded on the floor of the NSE on Thursday revealed that Custodian and Allied transacted 30.3 million shares valued at N115.1 million.

Zenith Bank exchanged 26 million shares worth N597.4 million, while GTBank sold 24.7 million shares at N924.8 million.

Also, FBN Holdings traded 14.6 million shares worth N87 million, and FCMB exchanged 14 million shares worth N15.7 million.