The nation’s bourse on Thursday sustained upward trend for the third consecutive trading session with the market capitalisation improving by N46 billion.
The market capitalisation which opened at N12.923 trillion inched N46 billion or 0.36 per cent to close at N12.969 trillion.
Also, the All-Share Index rose by 95.94 points or 0.36 per cent to 26,872.09 in contrast with 26,776.15 achieved on Wednesday.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, among which are; Flour Mills of Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, MTN Nigeria, Dangote Cement and Dangote Sugar Refinery.
Capital market analysts were of the view that the equities market would sustain gains in the near term although sentiment still remains weak
Analysts at United Capital Plc said “Looking ahead, we still expect investors to position in value and dividend paying stocks in expectation of making solid gains.”
Market breadth closed positive with 21 gainers and 12 laggards.
An analysis of the price movement table shows that Cornerstone Insurance topped the gainers’ table to close at 77k per share.
Oando followed with a gain of 9.89 per cent to close at N3.89, while Flour Mills was up by 9.85 per cent to close at N17.85 per share.
Ikeja Hotels garnered 9.62 per cent to close at N1.14, while FCMB Group appreciated by 7.39 per cent to close at N2.18 per share.
Conversely, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) led the losers’ chart in percentage terms, dropping by 10 per cent to close at N18 per share.
Jaiz Bank followed with a decline of eight per cent to close at 69k, while Lasaco Assurance dropped 7.41 per cent to close at 25k per share.
Unilever dipped 5.68 per cent to close at N17.45, while Unity Bank for Africa shed 1.94 per cent to close at N7.60 per share.
However, the total volume traded dropped by 10.5 per cent to 239.22 million shares, worth N2.28 billion, and traded in 3,585 deals.
In spite of the growth recorded by market indices, the volume of shares traded closed lower with an exchange of 239.22 million shares worth N2.28 billion in 3,585 deals.
This was against a turnover of 267.31 million shares valued at N3.05 billion achieved in 4,074 deals on Wednesday.
Transactions in the shares of FBN Holdings topped the activity chart with 74.03 million shares valued at N558.42 million.
Transcorp followed with 19.19 million shares worth N19.57 million, while Zenith Bank traded 18.31 million shares valued at N342.45 million.
Guaranty Trust Bank sold 17.23 million shares worth N506.18 million, while UBA transacted 14.16 million shares valued at N107.57 million.
