Nigerian Equities Begins Week Bullish, Jump 0.08%

Appetite for Nigerian equities, particularly in the consumer goods and banking sectors, which respectively closed higher by 0.23 per cent and 0.02 per cent, helped the bourse finished in the green territory yesterday.

They overpowered profit-taking witnessed in the other sectors, as the insurance space lost 0.62 per cent, the energy index declined by 0.44 per cent, and the industrial goods counter weakened by 0.18 per cent, while the commodity industry closed flat.

At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 83.31 points to 106,621.91 points from 106,538.60 points and the market capitalisation grew by N52 billion to N66.769 trillion from N66.717 trillion.

Business Post reports that Customs Street recorded 32 price gainers and 27 price losers on the first trading day of this week, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong sentiment.

Eterna gained 9.96 per cent to finish at N37.55, Transcorp jumped 9.91 per cent to N51.55, FCMB rose by 9.89 per cent to N10.00, Africa Prudential increased by 9.85 per cent to N36.25, and ABC Transport advanced by 8.67 per cent to N1.63.

On the flip side, VFD Group shed 9.92 per cent to close at N47.20, International Energy Insurance declined by 8.72 per cent to N1.78, Cadbury Nigeria depreciated by 8.00 per cent to N23.00, Cornerstone Insurance lost 7.89 per cent to settle at N2.92, and Honeywell Flour gave up 7.06 per cent to N12.50.

Yesterday, investors traded 365.0 million stocks valued at N17.6 billion in 14,565 deals versus the 349.2 million stocks worth N9.7 billion transacted in 11,911 deals last Friday, implying a surge in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 4.53 per cent, 81.44 per cent and 22.28 per cent apiece.

Fidelity Bank ended the session as the most traded equity with a turnover of 56.4 million units worth N970.9 million, Access Holdings exchanged 30.4 million units for N725.5 million, Zenith Bank transacted 27.6 million units valued at 1.3 billion, Africa Prudential sold 23.3 million units for N834.2 million, and UBA traded 13.1 million units valued at N496.0 million.