By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday posted its third successive gain following sustained buying interest across major counters as the all share index (ASI) hit a 9-month high and rose to 3.13 percent to close at 31,071.25 points.
As the Nigerian equities market remained resilient at the close of the session, market capitalisation rose further by N324.02 billion to N10.67 trillion.
“Today’s performance advanced the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date gains to 8.91 percent and 5.19 percent respectively,” Cordros daily market update affirmed.
Cordros reports that the Banking and Consumer Goods indices appreciated by 2.25 percent and 3.33 percent each, on the back of gains recorded in the shares of Nigeria’s top tier lenders, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and financial holdCo, FBN Holdings Plc by 4.40 percent, 2.19 percent and 0.23 percent apiece.
While Nigeria’s brewing giant Guinness Nigeria Plc and soap and detergent producer, Unilever Nigeria Plc gained 4.99 percent and 4.98 percent to boost the Consumer Goods index.
In the same vein, the Industrial Goods, Insurance and Oil & Gas indices climbed up by 2.92 percent, 0.72 percent and 0.99 percent, buoyed by strong rallies in the shares of cement manufacturer and Nigeria’s most capitalised listed company, Dangote Cement Plc, reinsurer, Continental Reinsurance Plc and oil marketer, Total Nigeria Plc all gaining 5.00 percent, 3.64 percent and 8.33 percent respectively.
At the close of business on the domestic bourse, market breadth remained positive, with 37 gainers and 12 losers, according to the NSE daily market statistics.
Drugmaker, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc emerged the top gainer with for the second straight day with a gain of N1.86 per share; while microfinance company, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of 0.06 kobo per share to close the day.
In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian Equities Market eased by 16.86 percent to 450.52 million shares, valued at N5.71 billion, and traded in 6,360 deals.
“We expect gains to persist in tomorrow’s session, as investor appetite remains strengthened,” the Cordros update added.
