MRS Oil, Dangote Cement, Others Boost Equities Market By N253.4bn

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed in the green zone on Thursday as gains in the shares of Dangote cement and others boosted the market by 1.07%

MRS Oil topped the gainers’ chart yesterday with an appreciation of 9.83 per cent to N12.85, Courteville grew by 8.70 per cent to 50 Kobo, Unity Bank improved by 8.33 per cent to 52 Kobo, Dangote Cement expanded by 7.77 per cent to N238.50, and Mutual Benefits increased by 3.70 per cent to 28 Kobo.

Conversely, Julius Berger ended the session on top of the losers’ table after its share price fell by 9.81 per cent to N21.15, Cadbury Nigeria depreciated by 9.69 per cent to N10.25, Prestige Assurance decreased by 9.52 per cent to 38 Kobo, Multiverse went down by 9.41 per cent to N3.85, and Coronation Insurance shrank by 5.71 per cent to 33 Kobo.

However, the market breadth finished bearish yesterday as there were 16 price losers and 15 price gainers, indicating a slightly weak investor sentiment.

The insurance and consumer goods counters depreciated during the session by 1.72 per cent and 0.66 per cent, respectively, while the industrial goods, energy, and banking sectors appreciated by 3.51 per cent, 0.12 per cent, and 0.01 per cent, respectively.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 465.34 points to close at 43,942.82 points compared with Wednesday’s 43,477.48 points, as the market capitalisation climbed higher by N254 billion to N23.935 trillion from N23.681 trillion.

Sterling Bank ended the day as the most active stock with the sale of 171.2 million units, Access Holdings transacted 78.8 million units, Transcorp traded 36.8 million units, GTCO transacted 23.9 million units, and Zenith Bank sold 17.2 million units.

At the close of business, investors exchanged 405.0 million equities worth N3.1 billion in 3,188 deals, in contrast to the 133.4 million equities worth N1.8 billion transacted in 3,078 deals, indicating an improvement in the trading volume by 203.60 per cent, an increase in the trading value by 72.22 per cent, and a surge in the number of deals by 3.57 per cent.