Stock Market Begins Week With N9bn Gain

Equities market closed Monday on a positive note as ASI appreciated by 0.07 per cent to open the trading week on a positive trajectory.

The uptrend was boosted by market speculators on the back of undervalued stocks following crave to increase capital gains.

Consequently, the All-Share Index grew by 16.9 basis points or 0.07 per cent from 22,599.38 index points last Friday to 22,616.28 while the market capitalisation of equities appreciated by N9bn to close at N11.786tn from N11.777tn.

On the activity chart, premium subsector dominated in volume terms with 39.17 million shares exchanged in 1,364 deals.

The subsector was enhanced by the activities in the shares of FBNH Plc and UBA Plc.

Banking subsector boosted by the activities in the shares of GTBank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc followed with 24.82munits traded in 642 deals.

In all, investors exchanged a total of108.12m shares exchanged in 3,354 deals.

Further analysis of the day’s trading showed that Lasaco Insurance Plc led the gainers with 8.37 per cent to close at 26 kobo per share while Chams Plc followed with 4.76 per cent to close at 22 kobo per share and Oando Plc with a gain of 3.91 per cent to close at N2.39 per share.

On the flip side, Nigerian Breweries Plc led the losers’ chart with a drop of 10 per cent to close at N31.05 per share. Sky Aviation Holding Company Plc followed with a loss of 6.58 per cent to close at N1.42 per share while Transcorp Plc dropped by 5.41 per cent to close at 70 kobo per share.