By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Shareholders of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals were joyous last week as the value of their holdings in the firm grew by 45.20 percent.
The stock has been performing well at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) lately and for the past three weeks, it has led the weekly gainers’ chart.
At the close of transactions last week, the stock gained 80 kobo to settle at N2.57 per unit, while Royal Exchange, which claimed the second spot on the log, appreciated by 20.00 percent to 24 kobo per unit.
ABC grew by 19.51 percent to sell at 49 kobo per share, Prestige Assurance rose by 18.64 percent to settle at 70 per share, while Linkage Assurance improved by 17.78 percent to finish at 53 kobo per share.
On the flip side, Japaul Oil was the worst performing stock last week, losing 16.67 percent to finish at 25 kobo per share.
Red Star Express depreciated by 13.39 percent to close at N3.30 per share, Mobil Oil declined by 9.96 percent to finish at N192.60 per share, Honeywell Flour lost 9.80 percent to end at 92 kobo per share, while C&I Leasing went down by 9.43 percent to close at N4.80 per share.
In the week, 34 equities appreciated in price, higher than 26 equities in the previous week, while 31 equities depreciated in price, lower than 39 equities in the previous week, with 98 equities closing flat, same as 98 equities recorded in the previous week.
A total of 1.1 billion shares worth N9.9 billion were traded in 16,616 deals in the week by investors in contrast to the 1.5 billion shares valued at N23.6 billion that exchanged hands a week earlier in 22,911 deals.
The financial services industry led the activity chart with 814.3 million shares valued at N7.2 billion traded in 8,352 deals, contributing 73.82 percent and 72.76 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The oil and gas sector followed with 66.8 million shares worth N143.1 million in 1,044deals, while the third place was the consumer goods industry, with a turnover of 57.8 million shares worth N1.0 billion in 2,559 deals.
Trading in Mutual Benefits Assurance, GTBank and FBN Holdings accounted for 485.3 million shares worth N5.1 billion in 2,683 deals, contributing 44.00 percent and 51.11 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Business Post reports that despite the profit taking witnessed during the four-day trading week, the All-Share Index (ASI) and market capitalisation both appreciated by 0.67 percent to close at 25,182.67 points and N13.137 trillion respectively.
All other indices finished higher with the exception of NSE MERI Growth, consumer goods and oil/gas indices which depreciated by 0.07 percent, 0.20 percent and 2.62 percent respectively, while NSE ASeM closed flat.