Equities market resume November upbeat as investors gain N71.6bn

…..Berger, FBN Holdings gain, as Airservice, Vitafoam lose
Nigeria’s equities market began the month of November, on a positive note, which is in continuance of the performance recorded in the previous two trading sessions.

The trading activities on Wednesday, 1st November closed with an N71.6billion increase in the aggregate value of all listed stocks otherwise known as the market capitalisation.

The market capitalisation grew from an opening value of N12.695 trillion to settle at N12.767trn at the close of business on Wednesday.

In similar vein, the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s All-Share Index appreciated 0.56 per cent or moved 206.91 points upward to close at 36,887.20 points. The Year-to-Date returns thus grew to 36.9 per cent.

A review of the price movement chart showed Berger and FBN Holdings emerged at the top of the gainers’ chart which comprised of 23 companies.

These companies gained five per cent each to close at N7.35; and N6.51 per share, respectively. Presco followed to emerged the day’s third highest gainer with an increase of 4.9 percent to close at N69.82 per cent.

On the other hand, Airservice topped 21 losers for the day with a decline of 4.95 per cent to close at N7.11. Vitafoam lost 4.04 per cent to close at N2.85 and Nascon came third with a decline of 4.01 per cent to close at N15.55 per share.

The volume and value of shares traded closed mixed volume declined to 249.3 million units sold as against 259 million units sold previously, while value traded soared to N5.2bn from N3bn traded previously. Number of deals dropped to 4,199 from 4,503 deals recorded in previous session.

FBN Holdings emerged the topmost traded stock for the day, trading 40.1 million units worth N255.1m. Sterling Bank traded 32 million shares valued at N32m, while Diamond Bank sold 26 million shares for N26.3m.