Mobil Oil price growth lifts NSE market indicators

Major oil companies recorded price growth on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, to sustain market recovery for the fourth consecutive trading day.

It was reported that Mobil Nigeria posted the highest price gain, leading the gainers’ pack with N22.45, to close at N259 per share.

Seplat followed with a gain of N5 to close at N475 and Forte Oil appreciated by N3.50, to close at N53.50 per share.

Guinness increased by N3 to close at N53.50 and Lafarge Africa grew by N2.01 to close at N52 per share.

Consequently, the market capitalisation appreciated further by N89 billion to close at N11.458 trillion, against the N11.369 trillion achieved on Wednesday.

In the same vein, the All-Share Index inched 265.28 points or 0.80 per cent to close at 33,246.91, compared with the 32,981.63 posted on Wednesday.

Market watchers attributed the upward momentum to investors anticipation that second quarter results would likely beat market expectations.

They stated that investors’ anticipation of a further drop in inflation rate on positive economic indices contributed to the rally.

On the other hand, Nigerian Breweries recorded the highest loss during the day, declining by N1.47, to close at N153.70 per share.

UACN trailed with a loss of 42k to close at N16.58 and NCR dropped by 38k to close at N7.33 per share.
Champion Breweries was down by 18k to close at N2.39, while Boc Gases declined by 16k to close at N3.14 per share.

It was reported that the volume of shares traded closed lower, as investors bought and sold 288.86 million shares worth N3.82 billion achieved in 3,631 deals.

This was in contrast with a turnover of 1.41 billion shares valued at N5.12 billion, exchanged in 69 deals on Wednesday.

United Bank for Africa was the most active stock in the banking subsector, accounting for 114.47 million shares valued at N1.03 billion.

Guaranty Trust Bank followed with an account of 23.92 million shares worth N871.51 million, while Niger Insurance traded 17.99 million shares valued at N8.99 million.

Zenith International Bank sold 17.35 million shares worth N382.82 million and Access Bank exchanged 16.54 million shares valued at N161.48 million.