Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market was revived on Monday by 0.93 percent by MTN Nigeria, BUA Cement and 29 other equities at the close of transactions.
These stocks ensured that the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) did not record the third consecutive loss yesterday, giving investors something to savour.
Business Post reports that market participants went on bargain hunting yesterday after prices dropped in the two previous sessions.
When market activities wrapped up on Monday, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 233.90 points to 25,250.20 points, while the total market value increased by N122 billion to N13.172 trillion.
According to data from the exchange, MTN Nigeria was the highest price gainer on Monday, appreciating by N2 to settle at N118 per unit.
BUA Cement gained N1.50 to end at N41.50 per share, UAC Nigeria improved by 50 kobo to N8.25 per unit, Nigerian Breweries increased by 50 kobo to N42.50 per unit, while Vitafoam grew by 29 kobo to N5.69 per share.
The 40 kobo lost by Dangote Sugar yesterday made it the highest price loser, closing at N14.55 per share, while Guinness Nigeria, which followed, lost 30 kobo to sell at N18 per share.
Eterna depreciated by 12 kobo to N2.55 per unit, Cornerstone Insurance declined by 5 kobo to sell at 50 kobo per share, while Custodian Investment decreased by 5 kobo to quote at N6 per share.
At the session, FBN Holdings was the most attractive stock, selling 34.5 million units valued at N188.4 million, while GTBank traded 22.9 million shares for N550.1 million.
Japaul Oil exchanged 21.2 million equities valued at N6.4 million, UBA transacted 19.5 million shares for N132.0 million, while Zenith Bank traded 19.3 million shares for N327.1 million.
When trading ended yesterday, a total of 222.4 million shares worth N2.1 billion exchanged hands in 4,503 deals in contrast to the 214.5 million equities worth N2.5 billion traded in 4,342 deals last Friday.
This indicated that the number of deals and volume of traded stocks increased by 3.71 percent and 3.68 percent respectively, the value of transactions decreased by 16.84 percent.
Business Post observed keenly that on Monday, all the five sectors closed in green, with the industrial goods sector the highest gainer, 2.39 percent.
The insurance sector improved by 1.57 percent, the banking sector rose by 1.09 percent, the oil/gas space grew by 0.24 percent, while the consumer goods counter improved by 0.04 percent.
