Trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) floor ended positively on Friday as investors gained N37 billion following price appreciation in some blue chips.
At the close of the day’s trading, the market capitalisation rose by 0.28 per cent to close at N13.350 trillion, up from the N13.313 trillion it closed the previous day. As expected, the bourse’s All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 70.98 points or 0.28 per cent to close at 25,591.95, against 25,520.97 it peaked on Thursday.
An assessment of the gainers’ chart showed that Stanbic IBTC recorded the highest gain to lead the chart, gaining N1.50 to close at N40 per share while Lafarge Africa with 60k to close at N12.80 just as Flour Mills added 35k to close at N29.50 per share. Other gainers were Zenith Bank which share grossed 25k to close at N17.20, Also, Guaranty Trust Bank inched higher by 25k to close at N25 per share.
On the flip side, CAP Plc topped the losers’ chart with a loss of N1.70 to close at N15.75 per share followed by Julius Berger with N1.40 to close at N15.60 and Ardova lost N1.25 to close at N11.35 per share. This is even as Guinness lost 50k to close at N13.50 while International Breweries lost 15k to close at N3.50 per share.
A further appraisal of the activity chart indicates that Custodian Investment was the most active stock, exchanging 63.09 million shares valued at N302.89 million. This is followed by Zenith Bank with an exchange of 17.73 million shares worth N303.57 million compared to Guinness which traded 13.69 million shares valued at N185.08 million.
Also, Transcorp sold 9.28 million shares worth N5.58 million and Africa Alliance Insurance sold 8.0 million shares valued at N1.60 million.
Overall, investors traded 212.73 million shares worth N2.28 billion exchanged in 3,239 deals compared to the 236.48 million shares traded and valued at N1.65 billion recorded in 3,251 deals during the previous day’s trading.
