Nigerian bourse up 1.24% Wednesday, reverses three-day losing streak

Investors on the Nigeria Exchange Limited recorded gains of 1.24 per cent after three-day losing streak as Airtel Africa, UACN, and others pushes the ASI upward.

Their combined efforts pushed market All-Share Index (ASI) up by 1.24 per cent to stand at 52,591.41 basis point as against a previous close of 51,949.64 basis points, pushing both the month-to-date and year-to-date performance of the All-Share Index at 5.95 per cent and 23.12 per cent respectively.

At the end of the day’s trading session, equities investors earned N346 billion as the market capitalisation stood at N28.353 trillion.

The market recorded 47 price decliners as against 11 counters in the gainers’ chart.

Chams gained 9.52 per cent to become the best performing stock in the session. It is was followed by Airtel Africa, FTN Cocoa, Veritas Kapital and Royal Exchange as they populated the top five gainers’ chart. From the rear of the chart MCNicholas, Champion Breweries, PZ, Regal Insurance and NEM Insurance populated the top five losers’ chart.

All sectorial indices closed in opposite direction with the ASI, save for NGX ASEM sector closed flat.

Market activity as measured by both volume and value of trades shed weight at the end of the trading session as the daily traded volume stood at 382.455 million units, representing a 46.90 per cent drop from a volume of 720.192 million units traded in the previous session.

Value of the traded stocks dipped by 52.25 per cent in the session to stand at N4.234 billion as against a value of N8.867 billion recorded in the previous trading session.

UACN dominated the volume charts as the top traded stock by volume for the trading session. This is followed by United Bank for Africa, Access Corporation, FBN Holdings and Transcorp to complete the list of the five most traded stocks by volume.

In the area of the value of traded stocks, Airtel Africa took the lead of the top-five performers, followed by UACN, Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings and Guaranty Trust Holding Company.