By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian stock market has started to gain the confidence of investors and this may have been boosted by the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to retain the interest rate at 11.50 per cent on Tuesday.
At the market on Wednesday, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by 1.29 per cent on the back of interest in the shares of Airtel Africa Plc.
According to the trading data analysed by Business Post, the All-Share Index (ASI) closed at a 13-year high of 46,529.99 points after it added 590.48 points to its previous value of 45,939.51 points.
The last time the benchmark index was in this region was in September 2008, when it finished at 46,216.13 points before the ill-famous stock market crash, which also occurred across the globe.
At the exchange yesterday, the market capitalisation expanded by N318 billion to finish the session at N25.073 trillion compared with N24.755 trillion it ended on Tuesday.
It was observed that the market breadth closed at equilibrium at the midweek session with 19 appreciating stocks and 19 depreciating stocks.
On the gainers’ table, Airtel Africa led with a price appreciation of 10.00 per cent to trade at N1271.00, Ecobank grew by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Courteville improved by 9.09 per cent to 60 kobo, Academy Press rose by 8.86 per cent to 86 kobo, while Learn Africa jumped by 8.53 per cent to N1.40.
On the losers’ log, Cadbury Nigeria led with a price depreciation of 9.47 per cent to close at N8.60, Prestige Assurance lost 8.70 per cent to trade at 42 kobo, Champion Breweries declined by 7.84 per cent to N2.35, Linkage Assurance depleted by 7.14 per cent to 52 kobo, while Neimeth deflated by 5.26 per cent to N1.80.
During the session, a total of 329.0 million stocks worth N4.8 billion exchanged hands in 4,219 deals compared with the 247.7 million stocks worth N3.6 billion transacted in 4,242 deals, indicating a growth in the trading volume and value by 32.82 per cent and 34.66 per cent respectively and a decline of 0.54 per cent in the number of deals.
Multiverse ended the day as the most traded equity with a turnover of 57.6 million units worth N11.9 million, followed by Mutual Benefits with the sale of 48.3 million units valued at N12.1 million.
GTCO exchanged 36.8 million shares for N936.9 million, Chams sold 22.1 million stocks valued at N4.6 million, while Nigerian Breweries traded 13.4 million equities worth N632.5 million.
