Stock Market Extends Rally, Investors Gain N8bn

The nation’s stock market sustained its rally on Monday for the third trading session following gains recorded majorly by blue-chip stocks.

The key market performance indicator, the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index, rose by 0.6 per cent following investors’ sustained optimism on undervalued stocks.

The market breadth closed on a positive note with 17 gainers and 16 losers.

The ASI grew by 14.64 basis points or 0.6 per cent from 25,591.95 last Friday to 25,606.59 on Monday while the market capitalisation of equities appreciated by N8bn to close at N13.36tn from N13.35tn.

On the activity chart, the premium subsector dominated in volume with 93.07 million shares traded in 1,463 deals. The subsector was enhanced by the trading activities on the shares of FBN Holdings Plc and Access Bank Plc.

Other financial services subsector was boosted by the trading activities on the shares of Custodian and Allied Investment Plc and Stanbic IBTC Plc, with 72.67 million units traded in 222 deals.

In all, investors traded a total of 257.03 million shares in 3,567 deals.

Further analysis of the day’s trading showed that Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc led the gainers with a gain of 9.55 per cent to close at N1.95 per share.

Royal Exchange Plc followed with a gain of 7.14 per cent to close at 30 kobo per share and CHI Plc appreciated by 6.90 per cent to close at N31 kobo per share.

On the other hand, International Breweries Plc led the losers’ chart with a drop of 8.57 per cent to close at N3.20 per share. UAC Property Plc followed with a loss of 8.42 per cent to close at 87 kobo per share while FCMB Plc dropped by 7.73 per cent to close at N2.03 per share.