Equities Market sustain uptrend by 0.77%, investors gain N88bn

Trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) sustained previous gains with a growth of 0.77 per cent recorded in lead market indices at the close of the market on Thursday.

The gains translated to an N88 billion increased in market capitalisation which settled at N11.387 trillion.

The All-Share Index also advanced by 251.26 points from opening figure of 32,686.72 points to close at 32,937.98 points.

Forte Oil led the day’s gainers by 10.22 percent. The share price closed at N58.34 per share.

International Breweries following news of its merger with sister companies rallied for the third consecutive day and posted a growth of 10.21 percent on Thursday to close at N29.24 per share.

Cadbury appreciated 10.15 percent to close at N14.22 per share, inedible 10.14 percent to close at N425 per share and Dangote Flour increased by 10.13 percent to close at N5.11 per share.

On the flip side, Goldbrew and Jaiz Bank recorded the highest loss for the day, declining by 4.71 percent each to close at 81 kobo per share respectively.

Julius Berger trailed with a loss of 4.67 percent to close at N38, Neimeth shed 4.05 percent to close at 71 kobo per share and Wapic Insurance was down by 3.64 percent to close at 53 kobo per share.

The volume of shares traded appreciated to 528.7 million shares from 499.11 million shares exchanged on Wednesday.

Value traded in 5,603 deals also increased to N4.8 billion from N4.07 billion, transacted in 6,424 deals previously.

Bank stocks topped trading activities for the day, as Access Bank emerged the top traded stock. Investors bought and sold 81.8 million of Access’s shares valued at N832.4 million.

This was followed by FBN Holdings which transacted 71.4 million shares worth N471.7 million.

United Bank for Africa exchanged 67.1 million shares valued at N586.5 million, FCMB traded 49.4 million shares worth N65.1 million, and Fidelity Bank emerged the fifth most traded stock with an exchange of 47 million shares valued at N61.9 million.