Stocks Gain N8bn Amidst Mixed Performance

By Dipo Olowookere

The equity market appreciated by 0.04 per cent on Wednesday after closing flat the previous day, though the performance remained mixed.

Buying interest in stocks in the energy and consumer goods sectors lifted the stock exchange during the session as investors still remain cautious.

The energy index rose by 0.58 per cent, the consumer goods space grew by 0.02 per cent, while the industrial goods counter closed flat, with the banking and insurance sectors depreciating by 0.91 per cent and 0.28 per cent respectively.

At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 15.31 points to 37,872.55 points from 37,857.24 points, while the market capitalisation gained N8 billion to settle at N19.732 trillion compared with the previous N19.724 trillion.

Business Post reports that Capital Hotels was the best-performing stock yesterday as its share price increased by 10.00 per cent to finish at N2.64.

NCR Nigeria gained 9.89 per cent to trade at N3.00, Unity Bank improved by 6.78 per cent to 63 kobo, Total Energies gained 6.06 per cent to trade at N168.00, while FTN Cocoa appreciated by 5.13 per cent to 41 kobo.

Linkage Assurance finished the session as the worst-performing stock after its share price depreciated by 5.41 per cent to trade at 70 kobo.

Cornerstone Insurance went down by 5.36 per cent to 53 kobo, Oando lost 4.14 per cent to sell for N3.01, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance dropped 2.86 per cent to quote at 68 kobo, while Access Bank lost 2.17 per cent to trade at N9.00.

Yesterday, investors traded 197.2 million shares worth N2.1 billion in 3,610 deals compared with the 197.3 million shares worth N1.9 billion executed in 3,567 deals, indicating a decline in the trading volume by 0.02 per cent, a rise in the trading value by 11.40 per cent and an increase in the number of deals by 1.21 per cent.

UBA finished as the most traded stock for transacting 35.9 million shares worth N269.6 million, Access Bank traded 28.7 million shares worth N259.6 million, Zenith Bank sold 17.7 million equities valued at N424.7 million, UPDC traded 13.8 million stocks for N20.0 million, while GTCO exchanged 10.4 million shares for N304.5 million.