By Philemon Adedeji
Bullish sentiment persisted the Lagos bourse as the benchmark All-Share Index appreciated by 24 basis points representing 0.05 per cent gain to close at 49,499.43 points from 49,475.43 points. Gains in GTCO (+0.45 per cent), First Bank Holding of Nigeria (+4.05 per cent) and STANBIC IBTC (+3.90 per cent) drove the market’s positive performance, outweighing losses in Dangote Cement (-0.50 per cent), Zenith Bank (-0.82 per cent) and Nigerian Breweries (-0.53 per cent).
As a result the year-to-date (YTD) return grew to 15.88 per cent while the market capitalization value gained N14 billion to close at N26.961 trillion from N26.947 trillion it closed for the previous trading.
Analysis of yesterday’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 50.47 per cent.
First Bank Holding of Nigeria led the volume chart with N29.10 million units traded, while Airtel Africa led the value charts in deals worth N925.10 million.
The Market sentiments as measured by market breadth closed positive as Julius Berger led 18 gainers on the leaders table, while UPDC Real Estate Investment led 12 losers on the laggard’s table.
The trade volume declined by 66.7 per cent to close at 132,571,047 million shares valued at N3.144 billion were exchanged in 2,999 deals.
On the leaders log, at the close of trade Julius Berger emerged as the overall gainer with 9.91 per cent to close at N23.30 per share, Champion breweries which followed appreciated by 9.30 per cent to close at N4.70 per share, while Ardova oil grew significantly by 9.20 per cent to close at N19.00 per share.
Thomaswy which recorded as the last fourth gainer went up by 8.82 per cent to close at N0.74 per share and Japaulgold which recorded as the last fifth gainer rose by 7.69 per cent to close at N0.28 per share.
On the laggards log, UPDC led as the overall loser which dipped by 6.45 per cent to close at N2.90 per share followed by Lasaco Assurance which depreciated by 5.56 per cent to close at N0.85 per share while UPL which recorded as the last third loser went down by 5.26 per cent to close at N1.80 per share.
Wapic Insurance lost 5.00 per cent to close at N0.38 per share and Oando Plc which recorded as the last fifth loser dropped by 2.56 per cent to close at N3.80 per share.
Transaction in the shares of First Bank Holding of Nigeria topped the activities chart with 29.107 million shares worth N331.219 million, followed by Sterling Bank which sold 18.387 million shares valued at N25.019 million, while Nigerian Breweries traded 10.503 million shares worth N394.984 million.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company transacted 6.642 million shares worth N147.039 million.
Fidelity Bank accounted 5.425 million shares valued at N24.144 million.