Dangote cement, Guinness Nigeria, others cause stock market to gain N391bn

By Philemon Adedeji

Equities market on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX),  regained it loss yesterday with a huge gain of N391 billion.

In summary, the All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 724.76 absolute points, representing a rise of 1.47 per cent, to close at 50,075.47 points. Similarly, ln Naira term the overall market capitalisation value gained N391 billion to close at N27.009 trillion.

The market positive performance was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Dangote Cement, Guinness Nigeria, NEM Insurance, Ellah Lakes and May & Baker Nigeria.

Analysts at GTI Securities Limited said “The domestic market closes the day positive, as investors react to the profitability reports of listed companies. We expect mixed sentiments to continue, as more companies release their Q2 results.”

Market breadth, which is measure by market sentiment was positive, as 20 stocks advanced relative to 10 losers.

NGX AS I MOST ADVANCERS

Dangote Cement recorded the highest price gain of 9.96 per cent to close at N265.00, per share. NEM Insurance followed with a gain 9.89 per cent to close at N4.11, while Ellah Lakes rose by 9.41 per cent to close at N4.30, per share.

Japaul Gold and Ventures went up by 8.82 per cent to close at 37 kobo, while May & Baker Nigeria appreciated by 8.68 per cent  to close at N3.88, per share.

NGX ASI MOST DECLINER

On the other hand, Lafarge Africa led the losers’ chart by 8.84 per cent to close at N23.20 per share. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company followed with a decline of 8.62 per cent to close at N5.30 per share, while Honeywell Flour Mills depreciated by 6.41 per cent to close at N2.63 per share.

UAC of Nigeria (UACN) lost 5.36 per cent to close at N10.60, while AIICO Insurance  shed 5.26 per cent to close at 54 kobo per share.

Also, the total volume traded grew by 98.58 per cent to 279.221 million units, valued at N2.082 billion, and exchanged in 3,576 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Jaiz Bank topped the activity chart with 115.128 million shares valued at N100.141 million. FBN Holdings (FBNH) followed with 39.956 million shares worth N431.498 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 14.661 million shares valued at N104.318 million.

AIICO Insurance traded 13.914 million shares valued at N7.675 million, while Japaul Gold and Ventures transacted 13.259 million shares worth N4.906 million.