By Nse Anthony-Uko
(Sundiata Finance) – Dangote Cement Plc traded 417.76 million shares yesterday as the Nigerian stock market rebounded with a gain of 2.43 per cent.
According to Reuters, Dangote Industries Limited has sold a 2.3 per cent stake in Dangote Cement to foreign buyers in a stock market deal valued at N86.1 billion ($236 million).
A total of 416 million shares of Dangote Cement traded at N210 in six off-market deals negotiated between Stanbic IBTC and Meristem stockbrokers as this resulted in the huge amount seen in the value of market transactions.
Meanwhile, the All Share Index (ASI) gained 872.87 absolute points, representing a gain of 2.43 per cent to close at 36,720.62 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation gained N302 billion, to close at N12.656 trillion. The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Dangote Cement, Nestle, Guinness, PZ Industries and Stanbic IBTC.
Market breadth was positive with 32 gainers and 22 losers. Ashaka Cement recorded the highest price gain of 10.09 per cent, to close at N12.77 per share. May and Baker followed with a gain of 9.86 per cent to close at N3.12, while Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.60 per cent to close at N2.17 per share.
Sterling Bank went up by 9.43 per cent to close at N1.16 and PZ Industries rose by 9.34 per cent to close at N24 per share. On the other hand, International breweries led the losers’ chart by 9.63 per cent, to close at N29.45 per share. UACN followed with a decline of 5.84 per cent to close at N17.40, while Aiico Insurance declined by 5.36 per cent to close at 53 kobo per share.
Fidelity Bank depreciated by 4.93 per cent to close at N1.35 and UPL declined by 4.91 per cent to close at N3.29 per share. The total volume traded appreciated by 73.33 per cent to 849.60 million shares, worth N94.05 billion, and traded in 5,602 deals. Transactions in the shares of Dangote Cement topped the activity chart with 417.63 million shares valued at N87.76 billion.
FBN Holdings followed with 61.01 million shares worth N368.53 million, while Access Bank traded 39.86 million shares valued at N399.59 billion. UBA traded 38.43 million shares valued at N371.84 million, while FCMB Groups sold 27.85 million shares worth N33.92 million.
