By Udeme Ekwere

Friday, 5 Nov 2010

Activities closed positive on Thursday, after three consecutive days of decline in the indices of the equities segment of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The NSE‘s All-Share index, which had declined by 1.3 per cent or 319.3 points between Monday and Wednesday, rose by 39.13 basis points or 0.2 per cent to close at 24,822.03, up from 24,782.90 the previous day.

The market capitalisation of the listed equities also rose by 0.2 per cent or N12bn, from N7.914tn to N7.926tn. It had declined by N100bn since Monday.

Analysts noted that activities might become a bit stable in the market, following the fact that speculative investors might have exhausted their bid to take profit from companies with good corporate earnings in the third quarter.

According to them, ”The depreciation recorded in the share prices of some stocks across various sectors of the NSE in the second and third quarters, in the face of improving corporate earnings, had increased the attractiveness of the market. We are of the opinion that the third quarter results from quoted companies will improve on the previous quarters, thereby further improving the attractiveness of the market.”

Meanwhile, a total of 26 stocks appreciated in price on Thursday, compared to 27 the preceding day.

Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc recorded the highest price gain, rising by 4.2 per cent or N5.87 to close at N146.52 per share.

Nigerian Breweries Plc followed on the chart, with a gain of 0.3 or 23 kobo to close at N76.26 per share, while First City Monument Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc rose by three per cent and 4.9 per cent to close at N7.50 and N4.51 per share, respectively.

On the other hand, Okomu Oil Palm Plc recorded the highest loss for the day, shedding 4.9 per cent or 74 kobo to close at N14.21 per share.

Longman Nigeria Plc, which had opened for the day at N7.84, lost five per cent or 39 kobo to close at N7.45 per share.

Eterna Oil and Gas Plc and Vitafoam Plc also lost 4.9 per cent and 3.3 per cent to close at N5.09 and N5.80 per share, in that order

The banking sub-sector continued to drive total volume, as it accounted for 57 per cent of turnover traded on Thursday.

Volume in the sub-sector was driven by trading in the shares of Oceanic Bank International Plc.

Source: Punch