Stock Market Up N847bn on Investors’ Interest in UBA, 77others

Kayode Tokede

The domestic stock market yesterday sustained the uptrend performance with a gain of N847 billion, as investors bargain hunting in United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), and 77 others underpinned market performance.

Consequently, the Nigerian Exchange Limited All Share Index (NGX ASI) gained by 1,546.69 basis points or 2.04 per cent to close at 77,537.57 basis points from 75,990.88 basis points it opened for trading.

basis points. Also, market capitalisation gained N847 billion to close at N42.430 trillion from N41.583triillion it opened for trading.

Sectoral performance was reflective of the overall market sentiment, as the Banking Index added 6.7per cent, NGX Insurance Index rose by 5.5per cent, NGX Consumer Goods Index gained 2.4per cent, NGX Oil & Gas appreciated by 1.9per cent and NGX Industrial Goods Index rose by 0.3per cent. As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 72 stocks gained relative to seven losers.

Berger Paints, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Cornerstone Insurance, Custodian Investment, FCMB Group, Ikeja Hotels, Morison Industries, NASCON Allied Industries, United Bank for Africa (UBA), University Press and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank recorded the highest price gain of 10 cent each to close at N14.30, N63.25, N1.65, N9.90, N8.25, N7.26, N3.08, 59.40, N28.60, N2.64 and N7.26 respectively, per share.

Transcorp Hotel and Multiverse Mining and Exploration followed with a gain of 9.99 per cent each to close at N77.19 and N22.46 respectively, while Transnational Corporations (Transcorp) and Access Holdings rose by 9.,98 per cent each to close at N10.47 and N25.90 in that order, per share.

On the other hand, Learn Africa led the losers’ chart by 9.09 per cent, to close at N2.90, per share. Champion Breweries followed with a decline of 7.32 per cent to close at N3.80, while C&I Leasing down by 2.33 per cent to close at N5.03, per share.

Nigerian Exchange Group depreciated by 1.70 per cent to close at N23.10, while Ellah Lakes declined by 1.64 per cent to close at N3.00, per share.

The total volume traded rose by 79.83 per cent to 927.558 million units, valued at N10.691 billion, and exchanged in 11,629 deals. Transactions in the shares of Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 108.113 million shares valued at N1.312 billion. FCMB Group followed with 79.063 million shares worth N644.032 million, while UBA traded 55.504 million shares valued at N1.544 billion.

Universal Insurance traded 50.597 million shares valued at N13.846 million, while Access Holdings sold 46.872 million shares worth N1.184 billion.