By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigerian Equities on Thursday rebounded 0.64 percent on bargain hunting activities as the all-share index (ASI) closed at 25,306.22 points, while market capitalisation rose by N55.36 billion to N8.70 trillion.
“Today’s activities increase the Month-to-Date gain to 2.99 percent and cut the Year-to-Date loss to 11.65 percent,” according to Cordros daily market update.
According to the update, gains in the shares of cement producer, Dangote Cement Plc and SevenUp Bottling Company Plc by 2.29 percent and 1.31 percent apiece boosted the Industrial and Consumer Goods indices by 0.35 percent and 0.25 percent accordingly.
Similarly, the report says the Insurance and Oil and Gas sectors closed higher by 0.35 percent and 0.19 percent respectively, as reinsurer, Continental Reinsurance Plc and oil marketing firm, Mobil Nigeria Plc climbed up 3.45 percent and 3.84 percent each.
On the flip side, the Banking sector emerged the lone loser with a loss of 0.83 percent, following price declines in the shares of Nigeria’s top tier lenders, Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc by 1.92 percent and 1.24 percent respectively.
At the close of Thursday’s session on the Nigerian bourse, market breadth turned positive, with 23 gainers and 18 losers declared, according to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) daily market statistics.
Construction giant, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc emerged the top gainer with a gain of N3.30 per share; while Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of N1.57 per share.
In terms of turnover, total volume traded dropped by 47.63 percent to 264.04 million shares worth N1.94 billion and traded in 3,298 deals.
“With today’s market breadth being indicative of positive sentiments, we opine that gains will be sustained in tomorrow’s session,” the Cordros update affirmed.
