The Nigerian equities market opened the week, yesterday on a positive side with a gain of N16 billion. In summary, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 47.90 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.18 per cent to close at 26,373.83 points.
Similarly, the market capitalisation gained N16 billion to close at N9.075 trillion.
The upturn was largely boosted by value appreciation recorded in some medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; ETI, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Mobil, Stanbic IBTC and Flour Mills.
Analysts at United Capital said, “We expect the market to trade sideways this week. A combination of thin trading volumes driven by weak sentiments, and speculative positioning in companies whose results are due early, should combine to dictate market trend.”
Market breadth was positive as 17 gainers and 15 losers recorded. Diamond Bank recorded the highest price gain of 7.21 per cent, to close at N1.19 per share. Nahco gained by 4.48 per cent to close at N2.80, while ETI appreciated by 4.32 per cent to close at N10.14 per share. Sterling Bank went up by 3.90 per cent to close at 80 kobo, while Access Bank appreciated by 2.99 per cent to close at N6.89 per share.
On the other hand, NCR led the losers’ chart by 4.92 per cent, to close at N8.11 per share. Total shed 4.87 per cent to close at N285.40, while Cutix declined by 4.52 per cent to close at N1.48 per share.
AG Leventis went down by 4.35 per cent to close at 88 kobo, while Guinness shed by 4.15 per cent to close at N69.99 per share. Also, the total volume traded went up by 17.11 per cent to 174.01 million shares, valued at N1.18 billion, and traded in 3,075 deals.
Source : Leadership
