STOCK MARKET: Investors gain N120.5bn in sustained shares appreciation

Investors at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday gained N120.5 billion as the stick market continued its appreciation for the past five consecutive trading days.

The market capitalisation of listed equities jumped from N11.238tn on Tuesday to N11.359tn on Wednesday, with the All Share Index rising by 1.07 per cent to 30,460.68 basis points.

The gains, analysts say were driven by price appreciation in Dangote Cement Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc.

The gains moderated the market’s year-to-date loss to -3.1 per cent, while investor sentiment strengthened to 1.5x from 1.4x on Tuesday.

Activity level was however mixed as volume traded increased by 1.9 per cent to 305.802 million units, while value traded declined by 35.3 per cent to N2.102bn.

Top traded stocks by volume were Diamond Bank Plc (141.2 million units), Fidelity Bank Plc (18.6 million units) and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (17.4 million units) while the top traded stocks by value were GTB (N577.7m), Zenith Bank (N357.1m) and Diamond Bank (N296.6m).

Performance across sectors was also mixed with three sectoral indices closing in the green.

Read also: NBS says inflation rate jumped to 11.44% in December

The insurance index led the gainers with a 2.32 per cent gain; the industrial goods index rose by 1.70 per cent, and the consumer goods index advanced by 0.24 per cent.

On the other hand, the banking sector was the major loser, with a 0.68 per cent depreciation, while the oil and gas index shed 0.01 per cent.

After Wednesday trading, 24 stocks advanced while 16 others recorded losses.

Topping the gainers were Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc, Guinness, Honeywell Flour Mill and NEM Insurance, having their share prices gaining 10 per cent, 10 per cent, 9.65 per cent, 9.57 per cent and 9.57 per cent, respectively.

However, Beta Glass Plc, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills Plc, Resort Savings and Loans Plc, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc and Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, led the losers, with their respective share prices declining by 10 per cent, 9.20 per cent, 8.82 per cent, 8.33 per cent and 4.69 per cent.

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