By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)- Local equities continued to rally on sustained bargain hunting activities on the Banking and Consumer Goods sectors, as the all-share index (ASI) on Monday climbed up by 0.49 percent to close at 25,828.30 points, while market capitalisation added N43.58 billion to N8.88 trillion.
”Today’s proceedings further increased the Month-to-Date gain to 3.06 percent and pared the Year-to-Date loss to 9.82 percent, according to Cordros daily market update.
The report says at the close of today’s trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) positive investor interests in the shares of Nigeria’s top tier lenders, Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Bank Plc gained 4.56 percent and 3.03 percent apiece to led the Banking index up by 2.08 percent.
Similarly, the Consumer Goods sector appreciated by 0.60 percent on price gains reported in the shares of beermaker, Nigerian Breweries Plc by 1.41 percent.
On the flipside, the Industrial Goods, Insurance and Oil & Gas indices plunged 0.06 percent, 1.03 percent and 0.37 percent respectively, owing to sell-offs in the shares of cement producers, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc, insurer, Axa Mansard Insurance Plc and oil marketing firm, Total Nigeria Plc by 4.58 percent, 4.69 percent and 3.18 each.
Cordros reported that at the close of the session, market breadth was positive, with 29 gainers and 18 losers, according to the NSE’s daily market statistics.
Soap and detergent manufacturer, Unilever Nigeria Plc topped the gainers chart with a gain of N3.30 per share; while drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc emerged the top loser with a loss of N1.07 per share to close the session.
In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian bourse jumped by 209.18 percent to 559.96 million shares, valued at N6.44 billion, and traded in 3,655 deals.
“We expect gains to be sustained in tomorrow’s session, as today’s activities indicate strengthened interest,” the Cordros update affirmed.
