Stock market opens Sept. on positive note, gains 2.97 per cent

The Nigerian stock market opened the month of September on a positive note on the back drop of improved activities.

The lead indicator, the NSE- All-Share Index (ASI) gained 820.89 absolute points or 2.97 per cent to close at 28,419.92 points. Similarly, the market capitalization appreciated by N282 billion to close at N9.761 trillion.

Analysts said that the equity market ignored depressed economic data released by the National Bureau of Statistic (NBS), posting a high return amidst news on foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows.

The upturn was strongly impacted by price depreciation recorded in a handful of large capitalized stocks, amongst which are Dangote Cement, Forte Oil, CAP, Guinness and Nigerian Breweries.

Market breadth closed positive with 24 gainers and 13 losers. Dangote Cement led the gainers table by 8.59 per cent to close at N175.89 per share. CAP followed with a gain of 4.92 per cent each to close at N31.57 and FCMB gained 4.90 per cent to close at N1.07 per share.


Also, Aiico Insurance went up by 4.76 per cent to close at 66 kobo and Wema Bank rose by 4.55 per cent to close at 69 kobo per share.

On the other hand, Caverton led the laggards’ table by 4.79 per cent to close at N1.39 per share. Chellaram trailed with a loss of 4.75 per cent to close at N3.41, while Tripple Gee declined by 4.58 per cent to close at N1.46 per share.

Also, May & Baker declined by 4.55 per cent to close at 84 kobo, while Cutix shed by 4.46 per cent to close at N1.50 per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded declined by 12.7 per cent to 229.23 million shares, valued at N2.12 billion, and traded in 3,243 deals. Transactions in the shares of Diamond Bank topped the activity chart with 62.48 million shares valued at N67.87 million. FCMB followed with 47.29 million shares worth N50.41 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 33.99 million shares valued at N31.46 million.

UBA traded 12.24 million shares worth N53.28 and Zenith Bank transacted 11.96 million shares valued at N178.36 million.