Nigerian Equities Close Week 0.74% Higher on Bargain Hunting

By Dipo Olowookere

Bargain hunting by investors left trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in the green zone on Friday.

The Nigerian stock market, when transactions were brought to an end today, finished 0.74 percent higher, expanding the year-to-date return to 11.32 percent, while the market breadth closed positive with 26 price gainers and nine price losers.

Business Post reports that Nigerian Breweries led the gainers’ chart today with an appreciation of N7.10k to close at N130 per share.

CAP Plc followed with N3 growth to end at N38 per share, and International Breweries, which rose by N1.5k to finish at N57 per share.

GTBank improved by 60k to settle at N48.60k per share, while Dangote Sugar gained 35k to close at N21.70k per share.

On the flip side, CCNN emerged the biggest price loser, depreciating by 85k to settle for the day at N16.85k per share.

Caverton lost 12k to finish at N2.40k per share, while Continental Reinsurance declined by 7k to settle at N1.51k per share.

UBA went down by 5k to close at N12.95k per share, while Transcorp suffered 4k loss to finish at N2.11k per share.

A look at the market indices showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) garnered 312.11 points on Friday to close at 42,570.89 points, while the market capitalisation grew by N112 billion to settle at N15.277 trillion.

Business Post reports also that the volume and value of equities transacted by investors today appreciated sharply.

A total of 308.4 million shares exchanged hands on Friday in 4,356 deals worth N6.4 billion compared with 342 million equities transacted on Thursday in 4,943 deals valued at N3 billion.

FBN Holdings was the busiest stock at the market today, selling a total of 42 million units worth N483 million.

It was followed by Zenith Bank, which sold 29.3 million units valued at N937.7 million, and Fidson, which traded 28.9 million units for N137.6 million.

Nigerian Breweries exchanged 25.7 million shares worth N3.3 billion, while Transcorp transacted 20 million equities for N42.6 million.