By Dipo Olowookere
Stocks of NPF Microfinance Bank Plc appreciated by 50.85 percent last week, closing at N1.78 per unit compared with N1.18 per unit it opened for the week.
The company was one of the 32 equities which appreciated in price during the week, lower than 39 equities in the previous week.
Other price rises in the week were Unilever Nigeria, which rose by 20.95 percent week-on-week to N12.70 per share and May & Baker, which appreciated by 20.93 percent to settle at N3.12 per share. McNichols gained 19.05 percent to close at 50 kobo per unit, while Eterna increased by 18.52 percent to finish at N2.56 per share.
On the flip side, UPDC was the worst performing stock last week, losing 13.04 percent to settle at 80 kobo per unit. The stock was among the 28 equities that depreciated in price, higher than 22 equities in the previous week.
CAP lost 9.83 percent to close at N20.65 per share, Arbico depreciated by 9.73 percent to finish at N2.32 per unit, Custodian Investment fell 9.52 percent to settle at N5.70 per share, while Afromedia declined by 8.82 percent to end at 31 kobo.
Business Post reports that in the week, 103 equities remained unchanged, higher than 102 equities recorded in the preceding week.
Last week, the All-Share Index (ASI) and market capitalisation both depreciated by 0.72 percent week-on-week to close at 23,871.33 points and N12.441 trillion respectively.
All other indices finished lower with the exception of main board, NSE CG, NSE Pension, NSE ASeM, NSE AFR Bank Value, NSE Meri Growth, consumer goods and oil/gas which appreciated by 1.29 percent, 1.52 percent, 0.74 percent, 0.36 percent, 1.65 percent, 4.76 percent, 2.25 percent and 1.56 percent respectively.
A look at the activity chart showed that a total of 926.4 million shares worth N9.8 billion in 20,910 deals were traded in the week by investors on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.7 billion shares valued at N18.2 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 28,791 deals.
The financial services industry led the activity chart with 676.1 million shares valued at N5.1 billion traded in 10,753 deals, contributing 72.98 percent and 51.73 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The conglomerates industry followed with 71.1 million shares worth N399.5 million in 445 deals, while consumer goods sector recorded a turnover of 48.8 million shares valued at N1.6 billion in 3,497 deals.
Trading in FBN Holdings, GTBank and Zenith Bank accounted for 335.1 million shares worth N4.1 billion in 4,885 deals, contributing 36.17 percent and 41.58 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
