Price appreciation in Access, 8 others boost equities market by 0.02%

Due to price appreciation in nine shares, the equities market segment of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed on positive note, as the NSE All-Share Index (NSE ASI) on Wednesday gained 0.02 per cent, sustaining previous day uptrend.

Specifically, the NSE ASI rose by 6.53 basis points or 0.02 per cent to 27,878.43 basis points from 27,772.19 basis points it closed on Tuesday.

Similarly, investors gained N2 billion in values as market capitalisation went up to N14.518 trillion yesterday compared to N14.516 trillion the equities market closed on Tuesday.

Sector performances were mixed on Wednesday as Banking gained 0.30 per cent and Industrial added 0.08per cent closed positive while Consumer Goods dropped by 0.31per cent closed in the red. Nonetheless, Oil & Gas remained flat.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; United Bank for Africa plc (UBA), FBN Holdings plc, ETI Plc, UAC of Nigeria (UACN), Access Bank, Lafarge Africa and Africa Prudential.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited stated that “Despite yesterday’s slight gain, we maintain a bearish outlook on the market due to waning investor sentiment.”

However, market breadth closed negative as nine stocks posted gains while 17 stocks posted declines. Africa Prudential recorded the highest price gain of 2.17 per cent, to close at N4.70, per share.

UACN followed with a gain 2.15 per cent to close at N9.50, while Access Bank appreciated by 2.08 per cent to close at N9.80, per share.

The share price of UBA went up by 1.95 per cent to close at N7.85, while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) appreciated by 1.46 per cent, to close at N2.78, per share.

On the other hand, Vitafoam Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 9.94 per cent, to close at N4.53, per share. Skyway Aviation Handling Company followed with a decline of 9.50 per cent to close at N3.05, while Royal Exchange went down by eight to close at 23 kobo, per share.

Japaul Oil and Maritime Services lost 7.69 per cent to close at 24 kobo, while Guinness Nigeria shed 7.28 per cent to close at N28.00, per share.

However, the total volume traded declined by 44.9 per cent to 152.40 million shares, worth N2.44 billion, and trade-in 3,519 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank topped the activity chart with 46.05 million shares valued at N1.34 billion.

Zenith Bank followed with 20.71 million shares worth N414.16 million, while UBA traded 11.85 million shares valued at N92.85 million.

FBN Holdings traded 10.52 million shares valued at N62.5 million, while Fidelity Bank transacted 5.77 million shares worth N12.48 million.