By Dipo Olowookere
The positive momentum witnessed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) lately continued on the first trading session after the Christmas break on Tuesday.
During the session, the market appreciated by 0.80 per cent, with the All-Share Index (ASI) increasing by 310.16 points to settle at 39,110.17 points versus the 38,800.01 points of the last session.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation appreciated by N168 billion to N20.279 trillion from N20.447 trillion it finished on Christmas Eve.
On Tuesday, a total of 722.6 million shares worth N4.4 billion were traded in 5,042 deals compared with the 389.7 million shares worth N8.0 billion transacted in 2,925 deals last Thursday.
AIICO Insurance closed as the most active stock with the sale of 273.1 million shares worth N326.1 million, while Oando followed with the sale of 81.5 million stocks valued at N323.3 million.
FBN Holdings transacted 41.1 million equities valued at N294.2 million, Access Bank traded 40.1 million shares for N353.3 million, while Champion Breweries sold 36.3 million equities valued at N30.2 million.
On the price movement chart, BUA Cement closed as the best-performing stock after it added N4 to its equity price to finish at N64 per share.
Zenith Bank gained 50 kobo to sell at N25 per unit, Access Bank appreciated by 35 kobo to close at N8.95 per share, NEM Insurance gained 13 kobo to settle at N1.49 per unit, while NPF Microfinance Bank rose by 13 kobo to quote at N1.68 per share.
On the flip side, CAP closed as the worst-performing stock at the market yesterday with a price depreciation of 50 kobo to settle at N20 per share.
Flour Mills dropped 45 kobo to end at N27.50 per unit, NCR Nigeria depreciated by 21 kobo to N1.96 per share, Guinness Nigeria fell by 20 kobo to N19.30 per unit, while GTBank went down by 10 kobo to close at N32.70 per share.
