Zenith, BUA Cement, others lift NGX with N281bn profit
By Philemon Adedeji
At the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Equities market halted a day negative performance on Thursday, driven by gains sustained in industrial heavyweight , Zenith Bank, Buacement, amidst other gainers pushed the broader index into positive sentiments, as market capitalization appreciated by N281 billion.
The benchmark Index closed by 516.79 absolute points to represent 1.07 per cent higher to close at 48,881.93 points from 48,365.14 points it closed for previous trading day, the ASI closed 1.51 per cent higher w/w, its fourth consecutive weekly growth.
During the week, strong performances across Buacement (+19.09 per cent w/w), Nestle (+1.67 per cent w/w) and UBA (+1.37 per cent w/w) were sufficient to offset the losses in MTNN (-2.27 per cent w/w), ZENITH Bank (-2.86 per cent w/w) and GTCO (-1.87 per cent). As a result, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 14.43 per cent, while the market capitalization gained N281 billion to close at N26.62 trillion from N26.343 trillion it closed trade on Friday.
Analysis of Friday market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 61.63 per cent.
Trade volume declined by 31.9 per cent to close at 100,823,914 million shares worth N1.143 billion were exchanged in 2,440 deals.
Sterling Bank led the volume chart with 34.19 million units traded while MTNN led the value chart in deals worth N403.78 million.
The market sentiments as measured by market breadth closed positive as BUACEMENT led twelve gainers on the leader’s table while UNITY BANK led seven losers on the laggard’s log.
Prestige Assurance which led the leaders table rose from N0.42 to N0.46 per share, up by 9.52 per cent, Buacement which followed grew from N84.00 to N91.70 per share, up by 9.17 per cent, while Thomaswy which recorded as the last third gainer increased from N0.44 to N0.48 per share, up by 9.09 per cent.
Wapic Insurance rose from N0.34 to N0.37, up by 8.82 per cent and Pharmadeko which recorded as the last fifth gainer grew from N1.85 to N2.00, up by 8.11 per cent.
However, Unity bank led the losers chart with 9.26 per cent to close at N0.49 per share, SCOA which followed lost 9.20 per cent to close at N0.79 per share, while Japaulgold which recorded as the last third loser dipped by 6.90 per cent to close at N0.27 per share.
Livestock which recorded as the last fourth loser depreciated by 4.31 per cent to close at N1.11 per share.
Chams Plc which recorded as the last fifth loser went down by 4.17 per cent to close at N0.23 per share.
Transaction in the shares of Sterling Bank topped the activities chart with 34.188 million shares valued at N46.194 million, followed by Guaranty Trust Holding Company which transacted 7.273 million shares worth N153.898 million, While Japaulgold traded 6.273 million shares worth N1.826 million.
United Capital traded 4.144 million shares valued at N54.721 million and Transcorp plc transacted 4.061 million shares worth N4.735 million.
