THE equities market closed on Wednesday on a positive note, for the fourth consecutive session, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NSE ASI) appreciated by 1.29 per cent to close at 26,407.64 basis points, compared with a 0.98 per cent growth recorded previously to close at 26,071.16 basis points.
Consequently, market capitalisation rose N116 billion to N9.086 trillion from N8.970 trillion.
Performance across sectors was largely positive as all indices recorded growth except the consumer goods index that dropped on the back of a 2.5 per cent loss in Unilever.
Market breadth also closed positive with 32 gainers against 11 losers. Forte Oil led the day’s 32 gainers with 10.24 per cent to close at N129.10 per share, Vitafoam followed with a growth of 8.6 per cent to close at N2.38 per share while Glaxosmithkline added 7.14 per cent to close at N15 per share.
Seplat and Livestock feeds also recorded appreciation of 6.71 per cent and 4.94 per cent to close at N400 and 86 kobo respectively.
On the other hand, Fidson Healthcare Pharmaceuticals led 11 losers with a decline of 4.51 per cent to close at N1.29 per share; Champion Breweries dropped 4.21 per cent to close at N2.50 per share. Airservice lost 3.85 per cent to close at N2.50 per share, Learn Africa fell 3.85 per cent to close at 75 kobo and Betaglas depreciated three per cent to close at N32 per share.
Value traded on Wednesday, rose to N4.3 billion from N2.4 billion recorded previously, while volume dropped to 205.4 million units of shares in contrast to 376.7 million units exchanged in previous session.
UBA led the list of most active stocks to boost market turnover, as it exchanged 54.7 million units of shares valued at N235.9 million, while Diamond Bank followed with 22 million shares worth N19.3 million and Zenith Bank with 21.2 million stocks worth N306.7 million.
and then