Market Gains 0.11% as Demand for Value Stocks Persists

By Dipo Olowookere

The demand for value stocks led the local market to a marginal 0.11 per cent growth on Wednesday, with a positive sentiment.

This was because at the close of transactions at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday, there were 32 price gainers as against the 16 price losers.

Mobil Oil was the best-performing equity, rising by N21.50 to settle at N249.50 per share, while Flour Mills gained N1.90 to end at N29.30 per unit.

BOC Gases rose by N1.13 to sell at N12.52 per share, Seplat grew by 40 kobo to trade at N496.50 per unit, while Guinness Nigeria appreciated by 30 kobo to finish at N18.90 per share.

At the other end, International Breweries occupied the top spot with a price depreciation of 27 kobo to close at N6.80 per share and was trailed by GlaxoSmithKline, which fell by 20 kobo to close at N7 per unit.

Livestock Feeds lost 19 kobo to sell for N1.76 per share, Africa Prudential went down by 18 kobo to quote at N6.77 per unit, while Cutix dropped 11 kobo to close at N2.09 per share.

At the midweek trading session, investors transacted 468.1 million shares worth N7.0 billion in 5,697 deals compared with the 1.2 billion shares worth N8.0 billion negotiated the previous day in 5,591 deals, representing a 59.86 per cent drop in the trading volume, a 12.63 per cent decline in the trading value and a 1.90 growth in the number of deals.

Zenith Bank was the most patronised stock of the session as a total of 45.8 million units of the company’s equities valued at N1.2 billion exchanged hands.

LASACO Assurance transacted 40.7 million shares worth N17.0 million, UBA exchanged 31.8 million stocks for N283.1 million, Japaul traded 21.0 million equities valued at N26.6 million, while Sovereign Trust Insurance sold 19.1 million stocks worth N4.2 million.

Business Post reports that when market activities were brought to an end yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 45.10 points to 40,341.05 points from 40,295.95 points, while the market capitalisation was higher by N24 billion, settling at N21.094 trillion in contrast to N21.070 trillion it ended on Tuesday.