Equities Open Week With N72bn Gain

The Nigerian equities market yesterday kicked off this week’s trading on a bullish note following demand for BUA Cement Plc and 45 others.

The All Share Index (ASI) gained by 132.13 points, representing a growth of 0.22 per cent to close at 59,335.88 points. Also, market capitalisation gained N72 billion to close at N32.309 trillion.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; BUA Cement, Transcorp Hotel, PZ Cussons Nigeria, Eterna and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO).

This week, United Capital Plc said: “we expect the positive sentiments toward listed corporates to continue. This is hinged on the suppressed yield environment in the fixed-income market, making the local bourse a more attractive option for investors, particularly as foreign participation on the floor of the Exchange continues to improve.”

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive as 46 stocks gained relative to 23 losers. Academy Press, Associated Bus Company, Ikeja Hotel, Tantalizers, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria and Transcorp Hotel recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N2.20, 44 kobo, N3.30, 22 kobo, N1.43 and 19.36 respectively, per share.

Eterna followed with a gain of 9.78 per cent to close at N17.40, while Skyway Aviation Handling Company rose by 9.73 per cent to close at N10.15, per share.

On the other hand, Unity Bank led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, to close at 99 kobo, per share.

Japaul Gold & Ventures followed with a decline of 9.23 per cent to close at 59 kobo, while Veritas Kapital Assurance declined by 8.70 per cent to close at 21 kobo, per share.

Secure Electronic Technology depreciated by 7.89 per cent to close at 35 kobo, while Cutix declined by 5.45 per cent to close at N2.60, per share.

The total volume traded declined by 12.0 per cent to 552.689 million units, valued at N13.057 billion, and exchanged in 8,052 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Access Holdings topped the activity chart with 74.602 million shares valued at N1.134 billion. BUA Cement followed with 45.406 million shares worth N3.861 billion, while GTCO traded 44.833 million shares valued at N1.449 billion.