Investment in the nation’s stock market yesterday continued on an upward trend as the value of equities improved by N30 billion. The result showed that the market capitalisation of the listed equities grew by 0.24 per cent to N12.148 trillion from N12.118 trillion traded the previous day. Also the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) went up by 91.72 basis points to 37820.22 points from 37720.50 points recorded on Tuesday.
A review of the transactions for the day indicated that investors bought 227.654 million shares worth N9.092 billion in 4234 deals against 273.256 million shares valued at N3.563 billion exchanged by investors in 4939 deals.
Nestle Nigeria Plc led gainers table, appreciating by N27.11kobo to close at N1000 .11kobo, Total Nigeria Plc followed with a gain of N5.40 kobo to close at N159.00 while Guinness Nigeria Plc, International Breweries and Ashaka Cement appreciated by N5.01 kobo, N1.15 kobo and N0.90 kobo respectively to close at N181.00, N24.29 kobo and N15.80 kobo.
On the contrary Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc recorded the highest loss for the day, shedding N4.99 kobo to close at N118.01 kobo, Presco Plc trailed with a loss of N0.90 kobo to close at N40.10 kobo while Zenith International Bank loss N0.41 kobo to close at N19.70 kobo. Other companies that depreciated in price were Oando Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc which dropped by N0.25 kobo and N0.22 kobo respectively to N17.56 kobo and N25.62 kobo.
Further analysis of the trading showed that financial service sector led activities for the day, recording 147.444 million shares worth N1.814 billion in 2416 deals. Banking sub sector was the most active in the sector with account of 103.734 million shares valued at N1.374 billion in 1519 deals.
GTBank was toast of investors in the sub sector accounting for 28.129 million shares worth N723.246 million in 299 deals, FBN Holdings followed with account of 25.214 million shares valued at N303.414 million in 436 deals while First City Monument Bank exchanged 25.200 million shares valued at N84.195 million in 105 deals. Zenith Bank traded 18.234 million shares worth N362.196 million in 306 deals while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) took fifth position, trading 14.952 million shares cost N55.552 million in 176 deals.
