By Dipo Olowookere
The renewed interest in Nigerian stocks continued on Wednesday, contributing to the 0.14 per cent growth seen at the market during the session.
The news that Zenith Bank has proposed the payment of N2.70 final dividend on Tuesday has continued to make investors take a good look at Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Business Post reports that at the close of transactions yesterday, Zenith Bank was the most traded stock, transacting 154.6 million units worth N4.1 billion.
GTBank exchanged 48.8 million shares for N1.5 billion, FBN Holdings transacted 25.3 million equities worth N185.6 million, Transcorp traded 25.1 million stocks for N23.4 million, while United Capital sold 22.0 million shares for N136.8 million.
At the close of business, a total of 469.6 million shares worth N7.1 billion were traded in 5,470 deals compared with the 338.0 million stocks worth N3.9 billion transacted in 5,232 deals the preceding session, indicating a rise in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 38.94 per cent, 84.15 per cent and 4.55 per cent respectively.
The energy sector was the biggest riser by sector, gaining 0.79 per cent, followed by the banking space, which rose by 0.77 per cent and the industrial goods sector, which appreciated by 0.22 per cent.
However, the insurance counter depreciated by 1.87 per cent, while the consumer goods index declined by 0.32 per cent.
When trading activities were wrapped up for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 56.44 points to settle at 40,221.30 points in contrast to 40,164.86 points of the previous day, while the market capitalisation gained N29 billion to close at N21.044 trillion versus Tuesday’s N21.015 trillion.
On the price movement chart, news that a shareholder obtained a court order to free Oando Plc from the claws of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) buoyed its share price by 10.00 per cent to N3.41 per share.
ABC Transport gained 9.38 per cent to settle at 35 kobo per unit, Japaul rose by 9.23 per cent to 71 kobo per share, Royal Exchange grew by 8.70 per cent to 25 kobo per unit, while Academy Press appreciated by 7.89 per cent to 41 kobo per share.
On the flip side, Lasaco Assurance continued its downward trend with a 9.49 per cent loss to finish at N1.24 per share and was followed by Consolidated Hallmark Insurance, which fell by 8.33 per cent to trade at 33 kobo per unit.
Cornerstone Insurance went down by 7.81 per cent to 59 kobo per share, Flour Mills lost 6.94 per cent to finish at N28.85 per unit, while Wapic Insurance fell by 6.90 per cent to 54 kobo per share.
Modupe Gbadeyanka