By Dipo Olowookere
Major market indices finished in the green territory on Thursday on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
For instance, the All-Share Index (ASI), which slipped from the 39,000 mark to 38,000 few days ago, crossed the 39,000 mark again after appreciating by 606.82 points to settle at 39,042.11 points.
Also, the market capitalisation returned to the N14 trillion mark yesterday after increasing by N219.8 billion to finish at N14.142 trillion.
At the close of transactions, the stock market went up by 1.58 percent, while the Year-to-Date (YtD) returns increased to 2.09 percent.
Business Post reports that the market breadth with 31 price gainers and 20 price losers.
Dangote Cement recorded a huge gain on Thursday to lead the gainers’ chart after adding N9.20k to its share value to close at N239.20k per share.
NASCON grew by N2.05k to finish at N22.40k per share, while Lafarge increased by N1.80k to settle at N39.80k per share.
Also, International Breweries appreciated by N1.60k to end at N43.60k per share, while Stanbic IBTC went up by N1.40k to close at N47.50k per share.
On the flip side, Seplat emerged as the biggest price loser after going down by N5 to finish at N735 per share.
Eterna followed with 36 kobo of its share value lost to close at N6.90k per share, and Zenith Bank trailed with 20 kobo of its share price lost to finish at N27.80k per share.
FBN Holdings fell by 15 kobo to end at N10.90k per share, while UBA also declined by 15 kobo to settle at N11.10k per share.
The volume and value of shares transacted on the floor of the NSE on Thursday went up by 25.16 percent and 14.19 percent respectively.
A total of 492.1 million shares were traded yesterday in 4,726 deals worth N7.6 billion against the 393.1 million equities sold in the previous session in 5,285 deals valued at N6.7 billion.
The Financial Services sector led the activity chart on Thursday with 421.1 million shares traded for N5.8 billion, while the Consumer Goods industry exchanged 29.8 million equities worth N1.2 billion.
WAPIC emerged the most active stock at the market on Thursday with 118.4 million shares sold for N62.6 million.
GTBank sold 106.1 million equities worth N4.5 billion, while Diamond Bank exchanged 33.7 million stocks valued at N54.9 million.
FBN Holdings traded 30.8 million shares for N338.1 million, while Fidelity Bank transacted 27.8 million equities for N64.2 million.
