Equities Investors Gain N75bn In Bullish Trading

The bull had the upper hand during trading activities at the Nigerian exchange yesterday as the benchmark index rose by 0.27 per cent to close at 52,235.88 points, with the market capitalisation gaining N75.28 billion to close at N28.44 trillion.

Gains recorded in the market were buoyed by buying interest in the shares of 26 stocks which recorded price appreciations as against 18 stocks which depreciated in price.

Honeywell Flour led the gainers chart with a 10 per cent price appreciation to close the day selling at N3.08 followed by Cadbury which saw its share price rose by 9.82 per cent to close the day trading at N12.30.

Neimeth also recorded a 9.52 per cent price gain to sell at N1.38 while Fidson and Academy press recorded 9.29 and 9.90 percent price appreciation to close the day at N9.29 and N1.56 per share respectively.

Other major gainers on Thursday include; BUA Foods, which gained 5.88 per cent to sell at N108 per share.  

On the other hand, Nigerian Breweries led the pack of losers as it shed 10 per cent of its share price to sell at N32.85. The share price of Access Corporation and Guaranty Trust Holding Co. also declined during Thursday’s trading activities.

Meanwhile, analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 9.52 per cent.

A total of 2.33 billion shares valued at N17.62 billion had exchanged hands in 6,958 deals at the end of the day’s trading.

Access Corporation which had seen a 3.38 per cent drop in its share price to sell at N10, led the volume and value charts with 1.23 billion units traded in deals worth N12.51 billion.