Nestle, Dangote Rescue Local Bourse With 0.38% Growth

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian bourse finished green on Tuesday after suffering a 1.53 percent loss on Monday buoyed by Nestle and Dangote Cement.

However, today’s growth, boosted by gains recorded by Nestle and Dangote Cement, left the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) 0.38 percent higher on Tuesday with the Year-to-Date (YtD) return closing at 10.21 percent.

Business Post reports that despite the growth recorded by the stock market today, the market breadth ended negative with 40 price losers and 18 price gainers.

Nestle appreciated on Tuesday by N38.20k to close at N1380 per share, while Dangote Cement grew by N8.70k to finish at N260 per share.

Furthermore, PZ Cussons rose by N1.15k to settle at N24.15k per share, Cadbury Nigeria progressed by 75k to end at N15.85k per share, while Red Star Express garnered 25k to finish at N6 per share.

At the other end, Total Nigeria lost N11.40k today to close at N217.60k per share, while Conoil fell by N3.80k to finish at N35.50k per share.

International Breweries depreciated by N2.95k to settle at N56.5k per share, GlaxoSmithKline declined by N1.5k to finish at N20.15k per share, while NASCON slumped by N1 to close at N20 per share.

At the close of business transactions on the floor of the NSE today, the volume and value of equities exchanged by investors increased by 77.69 percent and 102.56 percent.

A total of 510.3 million shares worth N4.6 billion were traded on Tuesday by investors in 5,757 deals compared with 287.2 million equities exchanged on Monday in 4,646 deals valued at N2.3 billion.

The most active stock at the market today was FBN Holdings, which traded a total of 115.5 million shares valued at N1.3 billion.

It was followed by Japaul Oil, which sold 97.3 million shares worth N33.2 million, and Diamond Bank, which traded 41.4 million equities for N103 million.

Transcorp exchanged 30.5 million shares worth N61.4 million, while FCMB transacted 28.5 million equities for N68.8 million.

A look at the market indices showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 160.22 points to settle at 42,148.40 points, while the market capitalisation appreciated by N57.5 billion to finish at N15.126 trillion.