Nigerian Stocks Sustain Upward Swing

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) ended midweek trading in the green territory, extending the bullish sessions at the market to 10.

The sustained interest in financial stocks pushed the stock market up further by 0.23 percent as the market breadth closed flat with 24 losers and gainers.

The All-Share Index (ASI) nudged further by 78.32 points to settle at 33,514.93 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N27 billion to close at N11.6 trillion, and the year-to-date gain ended at 24.71 percent.

A total of 331.4 million equities were transacted at the stock market on Wednesday valued at N3.3 billion executed in 4,055 deals.

This was largely influenced in investors’ interest in Zenith Bank, which emerged the most traded, accounting for 33.1 million units sold at N727.8 million.

UBA traded 28.3 million shares worth NN251.7 million, while First Bank exchanged 26.6 million shares valued at N160.8 million.

Custodian & Allied traded 25.3 million shares worth N85.9 million, while NEM Insurance exchanged 24.6 million units valued at N29.8 million.

On the price movement chart, Seplat topped the gainers’ log today with N9.98k rise to settle at N485 per share, and was followed by Guinness, which rose by N3.10k to finish at N66.10k per share.

Okomu Oil raked N1.50k to close at N64.50k per share, PZ Cussons rose by N1.5k to end at N22.5k per share, while Stanbic IBTC progressed by 99k to finish at N32.49k per share.

On the flipside, Nestle shed N16.50k to finish at N903.50k per share, wrapping the day as the highest loser at the market on Wednesday.

Presco declined by N3.22k to close at N61.32k per share, while Dangote Cement depreciated by N2 to end at N208 per share.

MRS Oil went down by N1.86k to close at N35.44k per share, and Flour Mills of Nigeria sank by N1.10k to finish at N25.15k per share.