Mobil, Cadbury, GTBank, Guinness Appreciate As Equity Rises By N18bn

Banking giants dominated Thursday’s transactions of the Nigerian equity market, with four financial institutions making the top five spots.

The activity chart was led in volume parameters by Zenith Bank with 40.574 million shares worth N999.271 million, while Transcorp traded 23.227 million shares at N23.254 million.

Access Bank closely followed with its stocks selling at 20.928 million shares worth N180.182 million, while UBA sold 18.015 million worth of shares at N150.842 million.

Sterling Bank completed the top 5 activity chart trading 16.351 million shares worth N31.985 million.

The overall outlook of the stock market on Thursday saw the All Shares Index, (ASI) rose by 0.10 per cent to close at 34,803 basic point compared to 34,769 basic point on Wednesday.

The appreciation of the ASI also corresponded with the appreciation of the equity market capitalisation, which grew by N18 billion or 0.10 per cent to close at N18.184 trillion compared to the previous day figure of N18.166 trillion.

This gain was majorly impacted by the surge in capitalized stocks of Mobil Plc, Cadbury Plc, International Breweries, Guinness and Guaranty Trust Bank.

The market turnover decreased, as investors traded in 257.555 million shares worth N3.529 billion in 5,407 deals, as against 434.922 million shares worth N6.913 billion in 7,029 deals on Wednesday.

The market breadth was positive with 33 gainers compared to 19 losers, as against 43 gainers and 11 losers the previous day.

The losers’ table was dominated by African Prudential Plc which shares dipped by 5.76 percent to close at N5.89 per share.

Union Bank shed 5.17 per cent to close at N5.5 per share, while Dangote Sugar Refinery declined by 3.15 percent to close at N20 per share.

Also, UBA Group and FBN Holdings depreciated by 2.94 and 2.68 percent to close at N8.25 and N7.25 per share respectively.

On the flip side, Mobil Plc, Cadbury Plc and International Breweries appreciated by 9 percent to close at N208.8, N9.6 and N7.18 per share, respectively.

In the same vein, Guinness Nigerian Plc surged by 7.22 percent to close at N19.3 per share, while Guaranty Trust Bank climbed by 2.61 per cent to close at N35.4 per share.