Stock Market Gets 0.74% Boost as Nestle Gains N34.55k

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Equity market in Nigeria received a boost of 0.74 percent, shaking off the loss recorded the previous day.

The positive performance of Nestle on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday gave the market the lift it needed.

Though the volume of shares traded today decline, the market indices finished in the green territory, giving investors hopes that this trend will continue tomorrow.

At the close of trading, the All-Share Index witnessed a rise of 184.34 basis points, while the Market Capitalisation improved by N64 billion, leaving both to close at 25,170.36 basis points and N8.71 trillion respectively.

The market breadth was positive today with a total of 15 stocks advancing in sharp contrast to nine equities that depreciated.

Nestle led the gainers’ log with a rise of N34.55k to close at N725.55k per share and was closely followed by Dangote Cement, which advanced by N7.60k to finish at N159.75k per share.

Guinness rose by N1.6k to end at N68 per share, Stanbic IBTC gained 54k to close at N18.29k per share, while Flour Mill added 25k to finish at N17.45k per share.

On the flip side, Nigerian Breweries lost N6.86k to end at N130.36k per share, while Forte Oil went down by N1.66k to finish at N50.50k per share.

GTBank dropped N1.26k to close at N24.61k per share, NAHCO depreciated by 11k to finish at N2.19k per share and United Capital fell by 4k to end at N2.41k per share.

Business Post correspondent reports that investors transacted a total of 216 million shares at the market today in 3,279 deals worth N2.2 billion compared with 218.7 million units exchanged yesterday in 3,191 deals valued at N3.9 billion.