By Dipo Olowookere
The year-to-date loss of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday moderated to 7.76 percent on the back of the gains posted by Mobil Oil Nigeria, BUA Cement and others. The two stocks and 27 others sustained the rally by 1.25 percent.
While Mobil appreciated by N17.60 to settle at N194.50 per share, BUA Cement gained N3.20 to sell at N35.60 per unit.
In addition, Unilever Nigeria grew by N1.40 to trade at N16.45 per share, Guinness Nigeria appreciated by 55 kobo to trade at N17.55 per unit, while Zenith Bank increased by 50 kobo to settle at N17 per share.
On the flip side, Flour Mills lost N1 to sell at N20 per share, Arbico depreciated by 23 kobo to trade at N2.09 per unit, Oando fell by 16 kobo to quote at N2.62 per share, NPF Microfinance Bank depleted by 7 kobo to N1.90 per share, while Fidson crashed by 5 kobo to N3.20 per unit.
A total of 350.8 million shares worth N3.7 billion exchanged hands in 5,239 deals on Thursday in contrast to the 427.3 million equities valued at N5.3 billion transacted in 5,079 deals.
This indicated a decline in the volume and value of transactions yesterday by 17.90 percent and 29.74 percent respectively, while the number of deals rose by 3.15 percent.
The most traded stock at the market on Thursday was Zenith Bank, which traded 57.4 million units valued at N961.4 million.
Ekocorp transacted 57.0 million equities valued at N342.0 million, FBN Holdings exchanged 44.4 million shares for N231.0 million, GTBank traded 32.0 million stocks worth N764.8 million, while Lafarge Africa traded 28.4 million worth N312.4 million.
The industrial goods sector was the best performer during the session, gaining 5.72 percent, while the banking index appreciated by 3.49 percent.
The oil/gas counter gained 1.44 percent, the insurance space rose by 0.97 percent, while the consumer goods counter appreciated by 0.38 percent.
A look at the market performance indicators showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 306.16 points to 24,758.39 points from 24,452.23 points. Also, the market capitalisation rose by N160 billion to settle at N12.903 trillion from N12.743 trillion.
