by Janet Olushola
Activity on the Nigerian stock market was mixed, albeit with a bullish tilt as the capitalisation closed N11 billion higher.
The All Share Index (ASI) rose by 21.00 absolute points, representing a gain of 0.04 per cent to close at 55,822.14 points. Accordingly, investors gained N11 billion in value as market capitalisation went up to N30.409 trillion.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Dangote Cement, Champion Breweries, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), LivingTrust Mortgage Bank and Transnational Corporation (Transcorp).
On market outlook, analysts at GTI Securities Limited said “all the sectors show a positive rebound from previous day outlook. We expect this sentiment to continue as the week winds up.”
However, market breadth closed negative as 12 stocks posted gains while 19 declined. Transcorp recorded the highest price gain of 8.66 per cent to close at N1.38, per share. Royal Exchange followed with a gain 5.63 per cent to close at 75 kobo, while Champion Breweries rose by 4.60 per cent to close at N5.00, per share.
LivingTrust Mortgage Bank went up by 4.21 per cent to close at N2.97, while Chams Holding Company appreciated by 4.00 per cent to close at 26 kobo, per share.
On the other hand, Conoil led the losers’ chart by 9.93 per cent to close at N42.20, per share. NCR Nigeria followed with a decline of 9.93 per cent to close at N2.63, while University Press went down by 9.00 to close at N1.82, per share. Prestige Assurance lost 8.89 per cent to close at 41 kobo, while Ardova Plc (AP) shed 8.33 per cent to close at N15.95, per share.
The total volume traded increased by 103.92 per cent to 311.476 million shares, worth N3.093 billion, and traded in 3,627 deals. Transactions in the shares of Transcorp topped the activity chart with 179.842 million shares valued at N239.244 million.
GTCO followed with 41.396 million shares worth N1.098 billion, while Zenith Bank traded 18.493 million shares valued at N480.368 million.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings traded 7.951 million shares valued at N317.984 million, while Sterling Bank transacted 6.731 million shares worth N10.100 million.
