NSE ASI hits three-year high at 36,000 basis points
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI), which averages the performance of all listed companies on the NSE, hits a three- year high of 36,740.77 on Wednesday.
Nigeria’s equities market continued to advance as investors remain bullish on value stocks amidst earnings releases.
Wednesday’s performance on the stock exchange ended with the ASI posting a growth of 3.40 per cent to cross the 36,000 benchmark the first since 2014.
The ASI, which closed the day at 36,740.77 points, specifically increased by 1,207.77 points. The ASI had recorded a growth of 880.48 points on Tuesday, to cross the 35,000 benchmark when it closed at 35,533 points.
The day’s performance extended rally to the 15th consecutive session, while the Month-to-Date and Year-to -Date returns stretched to 10.69 per cent and 35.62 percent, respectively.
The market capitalization also gained N417 billion and closed the day at N12.663 trillion (the highest since October 2014) in contrast to N303b gained in the previous session when it closed at N12.246 trillion.
Conoil emerged the day’s top gainer with a growth of 10.21 per cent to close at N33.04 per share, Fidson rose 10,06 per cent to close at 3.39 per share and Oando grew by 7.01 per cent to close at N8.40 per share.
The day ended with AIICO Insurance topping the losers chart. The stock dropped 5.26 per cent to close at 54 kobo per share, while SCOA Nigeria and Union Bank ,followed with a loss of 4.77 per cent and 4.57 percent to close at N3.59 and N5.43 respectively.
Investors moved a total of 335.3 million units of shares valued at N4.6b in 5,385 deals compared to 288.6 million shares worth N2.5b traded in deals on Tuesday.
FBN Holdings topped trading activity with the sale of 42.8 million shares worth N257.9m. UBA followed with the sale of 33.9 million shares worth N345.8m, while Zenith Bank traded 33.3 million shares for N838.4m. Access Bank came fourth with 30.9 million shares traded at N324.4m; and Fidelity Bank sold 28.9 million valued at N39.3m.
