Domestic equity opens week positive, gains N418bn

Agency Report

Trading activities on the floor of Nigerian Exchange on Monday opened on a positive note, appreciating by N418 billion, as gains recorded in the shares of highly capital stocks impacted positively on the market.

The market capitalization of listed equities increased by 0.63 per cent to N67.060 trillion from N66.647 trillion reported on Friday.

The NGX All Share Index also appreciated by 655.93 basis points to 106698.50 points from 106042.57 points traded the previous day.

The positive performance recorded during the day was primarily driven by gains in the shares of Aradel Plc, MTN Nigeria, Dangote Sugar, Nigerian Breweries, Presco Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Betaglass among others.

As a result, year to date return surged to 3.66 per cent as 35 companies closed in green against 29 firms that took negative directions.

An analysis of the investment showed that Betaglass led gainers table with 9.97 per cent to N120.75 per unit, TIP followed with gain of 9.90 per cent to close at N5.44 per unit, Cadbury Nigeria Plc trailed with a loss of 9.87 per cent to close at N35.05 per share, Caverton Business Solutions added 9.77 per cent to close at N2.92 per unit, Multiverse traded 9.45 per cent to close at N6.95 per share.

On the contrary, Ecobank Transnational incorporated topped losers’ chart, dropping by 9.62 per cent to close at N23.50 per unit, Meryer Paint trailed with a drop of 6.70 per cent to close at N8.35 per unit, Custodian Insurance dipped 4.72 per cent to close at N17.15 per unit, Mutual Benefits down by 4.49 per cent to close at N0.85 per unit, Access Holdings company fell by 3.88 per cent to close at N21.05 per share.

The result for the day showed that investors traded 569.041 million shares valued at N18.934 billion in 18612 deals against 573.333 million shares worth N15.254 billion exchanged hands the previous day in 18554 deals.

Transactions in the shares of FirstHoldco Plc led market activities with 106.037 million shares valued at N2.640 billion, GTCO Plc followed with 87.184 million shares cost N5.557 billion, Access Holdings company traded 42.913 million shares cost N919.277 billion, Japaul Gold 41.264 million shares cost N80.548 million, Chams Plc exchanged 23.616 million shares valued at N48.764 million.