Investors Gain N258bn On Blue-chip Stocks

The Nigerian equities market closed on Tuesday with a 2.32 per cent gain, extending previous positive sentiment to four consecutive trading day, following gains recorded by blue-chip firms

The market breadth closed on a positive note, recording 28 gainers as against 12 losers.

The upswing, according to market watchers, was driven by bargain hunting activities on the back of undervalued stocks following renewed appetite in anticipation of share appreciation.

Consequently, the All-Share Index grew by 495.92 basis points or 2.32 per cent from 21,384.03 index points last Thursday to 21,879.95 while the market capitalisation of equities appreciated by N258bn to close at N11.402tn from N11.144tn.

On the activity chart, premium subsector dominated in volume terms with 156.8 million shares exchanged in 2,2690 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 57.3 million units traded in 940 deals.

In all, investors exchanged a total of 557.8 million shares exchanged in 5,310 deals.

A further analysis of the day’s trading showed that Oando Plc led the gainers with 10 per cent to close at 2.64 per share while Nigerian Breweries Plc followed with 9.91 per cent to close at N24.40 per share and Conoil Nigeria Plc with a gain of 9.89 per cent to close at N14.45 per share.

On the flip side, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc led the losers’ chart with a drop of 9.09 per cent to close at N4.00 per share apiece. Red Star Express Plc followed with a loss of 5.86 per cent to close at N2.73 per share while Lasaco Insurance Plc dropped by 4.35 per cent to close at 22 kobo per share.