The equities market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange might have reacted positively to the outcome of the election tribunal ruling in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari, for the second consecutive day, as market capitalisation rose on Thursday by N142bn to close at N13.351tn against N13.209tn closed on Wednesday.
Also, the All-Share Index rose by 273.11 points or 1.01 per cent to close at 27,426.64 against the 27,153.53 recorded the previous day.
The market trend was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, including Nestle Nigeria, Forte Oil, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Guaranty Trust Bank and Lafarge Africa, according to closing statistics.
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Analysts at Afrinvest said, “In yesterday’s trading session, increased buying interest across board spurred the market in a positive direction.
“However, we expect profit-taking activities to drag market performance at the close of the week.”
Market breadth closed positive as 22 stocks recorded gains, relative to seven losers.
AIICO Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 9.84 per cent to close at 67k per share. Forte Oil followed with 9.64 per cent to close at N15.35, while The United Africa Company of Nigeria Property Development Company appreciated by 9.60 per cent to close at N1.37 per share. Dangote Sugar Refinery went up by 9.41 per cent to close at N9.30, while Chamsappreciated by 8.33 per cent to close at 26k per share.
Conversely, Jaiz Bank led the losers’ chart by five per cent, to close at 38k per cent. NPF Micro Finance Bank followed with a decline of 4.31 per cent to close at N1.11, while Unity Bank lost 4.29 per cent to close at 67k, per share. Lasaco Assurance lost 3.45 per cent to close at 28k, while NASCON shed 2.31 per cent to close at N12.70, per share.
Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart with 17.01m shares valued at N119.26m. Transcorp came second with a turnover of 14.68m shares worth N15.04m, while Union Bank of Nigeria sold 10.06m shares valued at N70.39m.
FBN Holdings traded 9.96m shares worth N50.44m, while Guaranty Trust Bank transacted 7.29m shares valued at N198.76m.
In all, the total volume traded dropped by 45.39 per cent as investors bought and sold 115.52m shares worth N854.29m in 2,816 deals. This was against 211.52m shares valued at N1.45bn transacted in 4,365 deals on Wednesday.
