By Nse Anthony-Uko
ABUJA, (Sundiaya Finance) – The Nigerian equity market, on Wednesday gained N77 billion to end trading transaction for the month of May.
In summary, the All Share Index (ASI) gained 221.72 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.76 per cent to close at 29,498.31 points. Similarly, the market capitalization gained N77 billion, to close at N10.198 trillion.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are, Unilever, Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries, Total Nigeria, Access Bank, Nestle and FBN Holdings.
Capital market analysts said that “As investor sentiment remains bolstered by positive development in the economy, we believe the bullish trend will be sustained in trading sessions ahead.”
Market breadth was positive, with 31 gainers versus 19 losers. UAC Property recorded the highest price gain of 9.82 per cent, to close at N2.46 per share. Mansard Insurance followed with a gain of 8.17 per cent to close at N2.25, while Law Union appreciated by 7.69 per cent to close at 98 kobo per share.
Champion Breweries went up by 6.51 per cent to close at N2.29 and Custodian and Allied Insurance rose by 5.34 per cent to close at N3.55 per share.
On the other hand, Guaranty Trust Bank, NEM Insurnace and Seplat led the losers’ chart by five per cent, to close at N34.01, 95 kobo and N351.99 per share, respectively.
Seplat depreciated by 4.99 per cent to close at N5 and Oando declined by 4.95 per cent to close at N8.45 per share.
Total volume traded declined by 58.78 per cent to 343.19 million shares, valued at N3.34 billion, and exchanged in 4,905 deals. Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart with 96.01 million shares valued at N695.34 million. FBN Holdings followed with 61.2 million shares worth N318.9 million, while Diamond Bank traded 41.86 million shares valued at N40.38 million.
Fidelity Bank traded 38.78 million shares valued at N40.72 million, while Zenith Bank sold 26.57 million shares worth N506.29 million.
