Nigerian bourse opens the week uptrend as All-Share Index rises by 1.49%

Equities transactions on The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) started the week on a positive note, with the All-Share Index (ASI) increasing by 1.49 per cent to 43,513.93 points, as investors continued to take position ahead of corporate earnings releases.

Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns improved to 0.42 per cent and 13.78 per cent respectively.

All major sector indices – Oil & Gas (+4.81%), Industrial Goods (+2.21%), Insurance (+0.76%), Banking (+0.37%), and Consumer Goods (+0.02%) – posted positive returns, following demand for SEPLAT (+8.56%), DANGCEM (+3.77%), HMARKINS (+6.90%), GUARANTY (+1.75%), and UNILEVER (+4.95%) respectively.

Market breadth turned positive, with 32 gainers and 25 losers, led by CAVERTON (+9.95%) and REGALINS (-8.33%), respectively. Total volume of trades declined by 37.48% to 252.05 million units, valued at NGN5.75 billion, and exchanged in 4,270 deals.

Caverton Offshore Group Plc and Japaul Oil and Maritime Services Plc lead the pack of gainers as investors traded 403.14 million shares worth N9.14 billion.

At the close of business, 32 gainers emerged led by Caverton Offshore Group, which rose by 9.95 percent to close at N2.43 from N2.21, followed by Japaul Oil and Maritime Services Plc with 9.52 percent increase to close at N0.69 from N0.63.

Fisrt Aluminium Nigeria Plc came third, rising by 8.89 per cent to close at N0.49 from N0.45; Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc was up 8.56 percent to close at N760.00 from N700.00,

Presco Plc advanced by 7.22 percent to close at N78.00 from N72.75 per share. On the other hand, 25 losers emerged during the day, led by Royal Exchange Plc, which declined by 8.33 percent to close at N0.44 from N0.48, followed by Learn Africa Plc with 4.90 percent decline to close at N0.97 from N1.02.

Unic Diversified Holdings Plc placed third on the list, depreciating by 4.55 percent to close at N0.21 from N0.22; Linkage Assurance Plc fell by 4.49 percent to close at N0.85 from N0.89, while Eterna Plc dropped by 3.90 percent to close at N5.67 from N5.90 per share.