Investors on NSE gain 14bn Wednesday as market breadth improves

Investors in the equities sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday gained N14 billion to N9.079 trillion from N9.065 trillion it opened the day trading.

The All-Share Index also gained 0.15 per cent or 39.56 basis points to close at 26.385.80 basis points in contrast to 26,346.24 basis points it closed Tuesday.

The day’s improved performance cut across the sub-sector indices most of which closed higher by the end of the day’s trading activities.

The Banking Index recorded the highest growth of 0.73 per cent, The Main Board added 0.34 per cent, the NSE 30 grew 0.22 per cent and the NSE Oil and Gas Index increased 0.37 per cent.

The NSE Consumer Goods Index, however, fell 0.28 per cent consequent on depreciation in Guinness and Honeywell Flour.

Market breadth improved as 19 companies appreciated, while 16 depreciated.

OkomuOil led the gainers table by 10.21 percent to close at N44.27, Presco followed with an increase of 10.20 percent to close at N44.19, Air Service grew 4.98 per cent to close at N2.74, May and Baker appreciated 4.44 per cent to close at 94 kobo, and Eterna gained 4.04 percent to close at N3.35.

Guinness led the decliners, losing 6.38 percent to close at N74.90, Julius Berger dropped 4.98 percent to close at N36.66, UAC-Prop depreciated 4.76 percent to close at N3, Fidson fell 4.72 percent to close at N1.21, while Livestock feeds depreciated 4.71 percent to close at 81 kobo.

Investors transacted a total of 197.4 million units of shares, valued at N1.05 billion in 3,410 deals, compared to previous trading session’s 219 million units of shares, valued at N1.4 billion in 3,423 deals.

Union Bank topped the activity chart for the day, with the sale of 34.1 million shares worth N170.6 million. Diamond Bank followed with 28 million shares worth N27.2 million, while Transcorp emerged the third most traded stock for the day with 22.6 million shares amounting to N20.4 million. FBN Holdings came fourth having traded 19.7 million units of shares valued at N72.3 million while FCMB was fifth with 14.3 million shares worth N18.1 million.