NSE: Market capitalisation gains N80bn on last trading day of April

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) market capitalisation on Thursday closed the last day of April with N80 billion gain, following sustained demand for blue chips.

The market capitalisation, which opened at N11.917 trillion, inched higher by N80 billion or 0.67 per cent to close the month at N11.997 trillion.

Also, the All-Share Index increased by 152.61 points, representing a growth of 0.67 per cent, to close at 23,021.01 against 22,868.40 achieved on Wednesday.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are; MTN Nigeria, Ardova, Lafarge Africa, Access Bank and International Breweries.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “We expect bargain hunting to continue to buoy positive performance in the short term.”

Market breadth remained positive, with 21 gainers against 13 losers.

Ardova led the gainers’ table in percentage terms, growing by10 per cent, to close at N11.55 per share.

University Press followed with a gain 9.28 per cent to close at N1.06, while Livestock Feeds appreciated by 7.69 per cent to close at 70k per share.

Caverton rose by 7.39 per cent to close at N2.47, while Union Diagnostic appreciated by 6.90 per cent to close at 31k per share.

Conversely, Prestige Assurance led the losers’ chart in percentage terms with a loss of 9.09 per cent, to close at 50k per share.

Courteville followed with a decline of 4.55 per cent to close at 21k, while Nigerian Breweries lost 3.38 to close at N30 per share.

Zenith Bank dipped 2.72 per cent to close at N14.30, while United Capital shed 2.09 per cent to close at N2.34 per share.

In the same vein, the total volume of shares traded rose by 29.6 per cent as investors bought and sold 359.47 million shares worth N3.26 billion, achieved in 4,946 deals.

This was in contrast with a total of 277.43 million shares valued at N2.55 billion transacted in 4,464 deals on Wednesday.

Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart with 64.6 million shares valued at N421.47 million.

FBN Holdings followed with 62.94 million shares worth N289.46 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank traded 36.14 million shares valued at N759.52 million.

FCMB Group sold 35.16 million shares worth N61.77 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 25.55 million shares worth N371.99 million.