Nigerian Stocks Open Week Bullish as Seplat Lifts Index by 0.49%

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Equities market in Nigeria closed for the first trading day of the week on Monday in the green territory, boosting confidence of stock market investors.

The upward movement recorded in the prices of Seplat and Nigerian Breweries gave the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) a lifeline today, Business Post reports.

The market’s benchmark index rose by 0.49 percent, while investors posted a gain of N42.6 billion in contrast to N55 billion lost last Friday.

It was gathered that the all-share index improved by 123.05 points to close 25,373.42 points, while the market capitalisation ended at N8.78 trillion following a N42.6 billion rise.

At the close of trading activities on the floor of the NSE today, investors bought and sold a total of 254.8 million shares valued at N2.54 billion executed in 3,373 deals compared with 259.3 million units traded last Friday at N2.4 billion in 2,402 deals.

Seplat led the 17 stocks that appreciated in price on Monday after going up by N18 to close at N388 per share, while 7up topped the 17 equities that crashed at the market after declining by N6.50k to end at N100 per share.

Other gainers today were Nigerian Breweries, which went up by N2 to close at N132 per share; GTBank, which progressed by 57k to finish at N24.62k per share; Unilever, which rose by 50k to close at N29 per share and UACN, which advanced by 40k to finish at N13 per share.

For the other losers, Mobil lost N5 to close at N280 per share; Cadbury went down by 45k to end at N8.55k per share, UPL fell by 21k to finish at N4.3k per share and Forte Oil dropped 15k to close at N50.20k per share.

On the activity chart, measured by volume, Zenith Bank led the pack accounting for 69 million shares transacted at N1.04 billion, while UNIC trailed after exchanging 62.3 million shares valued at N31.3 million.