Nestle, 25 Others Lift Stock Market by 1.67%

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The first trading day of this week finished on a positive note today with the major market indicators pointing north as activities resumed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) after the two-day public holiday declared by the Federal Government on Monday and Tuesday to celebrate the end of Ramadan by Muslims.

Business Post reports that investors returned to the market on Wednesday in high hopes, though the volume of shares traded finished lower.

But at the close of transactions, the stock market reversed the 3-day bearish session to record a 1.67 percent growth.

Gains recorded by blue-chip stocks led by Nestle and Dangote Cement resulted in the market closing higher today.

Nestle increased by N9.99k to close at N910 per share, while Dangote Cement improved by N4.40k to finish at N200 per share.

Furthermore, Nigerian Breweries added N2.63k to end at N154.53k per share, Forte Oil progressed by N2.50k to settle at N52.54k per share and GTBank advanced by N1.50k to wrap the day at N36 per share.

However, Okomu Oil shed N3.7k to emerge the heaviest loser at the stock market today to close at N58.49k per share.

Unilever lost N2.14k to finish at N40.85k per share, while Julius Berger depreciated by N2.7k to settle at N39.45k per share.

In addition, NASCON dropped 46k to close at N8.87k per share and May & Baker went down by 23k to end at N4.51k per share.

A total of 386.2 million shares exchanged hands today in 4,372 deals valued at N3.3 billion. This is in contrast to the 417.6 million units worth N3.3 billion executed in 5,456 deals last Friday, which was the last trading day.

Business Post further reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) today grew by 537.7 points to settle at 32,659.84 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N186 billion to close for the day at N11.3 trillion.

In addition, the YTD Return finished on Wednesday at 21.53 percent, while the market breadth ended positive with 26 gainers versus 21 losers.

Investors are upbeat that this positive momentum recorded today is sustained tomorrow when activities resume on the floor of the NSE.