Stock Market Advances With N67bn Gain

The bulls maintained their grip on the equity market on Wednesday following gains recorded majorly by blue-chip stocks as investors positioned to leverage undervalued stocks.

The key market performance indicators, the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index and market capitalisation, rose by 0.5 per cent as market sentiment extended gaining streak to fourth day following investors’ sustained optimism.

The market breadth closed positive with 21 gainers against 14 losers.

The ASI appreciated by 128.12 basis points or 0.5 per cent to close at 25,783.02 basis points as against 25,1654.90 recorded the previous trading session.

The market capitalisation of equities grew by N67bn from N13.41tn the previous day to N13.47tn as market sentiment remained in the positive territory.

Meanwhile, a turnover of 414.16 million shares traded in 3,793 deals was recorded in the day’s trading.

The premium subsector was the most active (measured by turnover volume), with 222.05 million shares traded by investors in 1,494 deals.

Volume in the subsector was largely driven by activities in the shares of FBN Holdings Plc and Access Bank Plc.

Also, the banking subsector was boosted by the activities in the shares of Sterling Bank Plc and GTBank Plc followed with a turnover of 123.87 million shares in 586 deals.

Further analysis of the day’s trading showed that International Breweries Plc and Prestige Assurance Plc topped the day’s gainers’ table with 9.09 per cent each to close at N3.60 and 60 kobo per share respectively.

Cornerstone Assurance Plc followed with a gain of 8.33 per cent to close at 65 kobo per share while UAC Property Plc added 5.26 per cent to close at N1.00 per share.

On the other hand, ABC Transport Plc led the losers’ with a drop of 9.09 per cent to close at 30 kobo per share while Royal Exchange Plc shed 6.90 per cent to close at 27 kobo per share.

Eterna Oil Plc lost 6.72 per cent to close at N2.50 per share.