By InvesAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian equities market on Wednesday halted a two day losing streak, gaining 0.12 percent on rallies in key stocks in the Banking, Insurance and Oil/Gas sectors.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) all share-index (ASI) closed at 29,014.78 basis points, while market capitalisation increased by N11.57 billion to close at N9.97 trillion.
Cordros daily market update says Wednesday’s gain on the Nigerian bourse pared Month-to-Date (M-t-D) and Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) losses to 0.56 percent and 16.28 percent respectively.
According to the report, three (3) of the five (5) sector NSE indices increased at the end of the session.
It reported the Insurance and Banking sectors climbed up 0.85 percent and 0.55 percent respectively following price increases in the shares of insurer, Axa Mansard Insurance Plc by 4.96 percent and Nigeria’s top tier lender, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc with a gain of 0.52 percent.
In the same vein, gains in the shares of Fast Consumer Moving Goods companies, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc by 4.55 percent and brewer Nigerian Breweries Plc by 2.69 percent pushed the Consumer Goods sector higher by 0.70 percent.
On the contrary, the Oil/Gas sector went down by 0.28 percent on drags in the shares of oil marketer, Oando Plc by 9.67 percent. Also, the Industrial sector dipped 0.09 percent following declines in the shares of cement producer, Ashaka Cement Plc by 2.18 percent.
At the close of the sessions trading on the local bourse, market breadth maintained a negative outlook with 12 gainers and 25 losers posted.
Insurer, MANSARD led the gainers chart with a gain of 0.13 kobo per share, while OANDO emerged top loser with a loss of 0.82 kobo per share to close the session.
In terms of turnover, volume traded on the Nigerian equities market dipped by 31.54 percent to 217.31 million shares worth N1.46billion in 3,067 deals.
“We expect gains to be sustained in tomorrow’s session with today’s gains reflective of a return of investor’s interest,” the Cordros report affirmed.
