By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Positive momentum was further sustained on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday as the market closed 0.38 percent higher at the end of transactions.
Just like the previous day, when the market capitalisation finished above N13 trillion, another landmark was again hit today with the All-Share Index (ASI) gaining 144.46 points to settle at 38,144.02 points, crossing the 38,000 mark for the first time in several months.
The market capitalisation expanded by N50 billion to finish at N13.2 trillion, while the year-to-day return blew to 41.93 percent.
However, the market breadth closed negative today with 20 equities increasing compared with 23 stocks which depreciated at the close of market activities.
Like the previous day, Nestle led today’s gainers’ chart with N45.7k added to its share price to close at N1200 per share.
It was trailed by Guinness Nigeria, which rose by N8.12k to end at N87.50k per share, and Presco, which advanced by N1.20k to settle at N71.98k per share.
PZ Cussons gained 78k to close at N27 per share, while Dangote Flour went up by 61k to finish at N7 per share.
At the other end, Conoil lost N1.72k to settle at N32.86k per share, while Ecobank shed 69k to finish at N17.30k per share.
Unilever slumped by 30k to close at N41 per share, Dangote Sugar declined by 27k to end at N14.25k per share, and Champion Breweries depreciated by 26k to wrap the day at N2.53k per share.
Today’s most active stock was Jaiz Bank, which traded a total of 48.5 million shares valued at N42.6 million.
It was followed by FCMB, which transacted 47.2 million units worth N57.6 million, and FBN Holdings, which traded 25.6 million shares at N157.3 million.
Dangote Sugar moved 24 million shares worth N168.2 million, while Access Bank sold 23.3 million shares valued at N240.9 million.
In all, at the close of trading today, investors exchanged a total of 328.7 million shares in 4,983 deals valued at N6.1 billion.
Adedapo Adesanya