Stock Market increases gain up N141bn

The Nigerian equities maintained its positive performance with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI)as stock market rose by 1.01 per cent settles at 27,426.64, while market capitalisation added N141.3 billion to be at N13.4 trillion.

Meanwhile, the market, which went up by 0.39 per cent further appreciated recently as 22 stocks added value and only seven stocks depreciated.

Records showed that, Cornerstone Insurance Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc went up 7.1 per cent apiece, while Fidelity Bank Plc and Lafarge Africa Plc chalked up 6.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent in that order. FBN Holdings Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, FCMB Holdings Plc and Access Bank Plc were also among the price gainers.

The top five performers were AIICO Insurance, Forte Oil, UACN Property Development Company Plc, Dangote Sugar and Chams Plc, as their respective share prices gained 9.84 per cent, 9.64 per cent, 9.60 per cent, 9.41 per cent and 8.33 per cent.

The top five losers were Jaiz Bank Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Lasaco Assurance Plc and Nascon Allied Industries Plc, whose respective share prices declined by five per cent, 4.31 per cent, 4.29 per cent, 3.45 per cent and 2.31 per cent.

More so, activity level declined as volume and value traded fell 45.5 per cent and 41.1 per cent to 115.3 million shares units and N854.3 million respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were Access Bank Plc (17.0 million shares), Transcorp (14.7 million shares) and Union Bank of Nigeria (10.1 million shares) while GTBank Plc (N198.8 million), Access Bank (N119.3 million) and Zenith Bank Plc (N104.5 million) led by value.

In the  sector ally performance, the NSE Consumer Goods Index led gainers, up 3.8 per cent while the NSE Banking Index trailed, rising by 1.7 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index rose 1.1 per cent, just as the NSE Insurance Index went up by 0.6 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index inched higher by 0.5 per cent