NSE sustains positive trend, capitalisation increases by N70bn

Transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) maintained its positive trend on Thursday as the market capitalisation improved further by N70 billion amid gains by some blue chips.

Our correspondent reports the market capitalisation, which opened at N12.223 trillion, rose by N70 billion to close at N12.293 trillion.

Similarly, the All-Share Index grew by 195.70 points or 0.55 per cent to close at 35,660.04 against 35,464.34 posted on Wednesday.

It was reported that the price movement indicated that Nestle led the gainers’ table with a gain of N15 to close at N1,205 per share.

It was trailed by Dangote Cement with a gain of N4.99 to close at N213.99, while Okomu Oil gained N3.61 to close at N66.50 per share.

Flour Mills Nigeria rose by 50k to close at N27, while Nigerian Breweries improved by 49k to close at N180.55 per share.

On the other hand, Total topped the price losers’ chart with a loss of N2.90 to close at N232.10 per share.

Unilever came second with a loss of N2.20 to close at N41.80, while Conoil shed N1.45 to close at N27.55 per share.

Zenith Bank dropped 55k to close at N22.20, while International Breweries depreciated by 47k to close at N37.53 per share.

The volume of shares traded improved by 7.03 per cent as 128.31 million shares worth N2.73 billion were traded in 3,241 deals.

This was in contrast to the 119.89 million shares valued at N1.74 billion traded in 3,015 deals on Wednesday.

Zenith Bank was the most active, accounting for 20.22 million shares worth N451.76 million, while FBNHoldings exchanged 7.332 million shares worth N41.995 million.

GTB had a turnover of 19.11 million shares valued at N724.47 million, while Skye Bank traded 10.51 million shares worth N5.41 million.

FBN Holdings exchanged 7.33 million shares valued at N41.99 million, while Jaiz Bank traded 7.18 million shares worth N4.68 million.