The Nigerian equity market closed higher on Monday as it gained 0.84 percent following the appreciation in the share price of United Bank for Africa, UBA Plc, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and 29 other companies, thus extending uptrend to three consecutive trading sessions.
The growth was aided by the sterling performance of UBA, Seplat and 29 others as the market breadth closed positive, recording 31 gainers against 22 losers.
Actually, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE All Share Index (ASI) was up by 309.08 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.84 percent, closing at 36,946.05 points. Similarly, the market capitalization increased by N111.97 billion, representing a growth of 0.84 percent closing at N13.38 trillion.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalized stocks, amongst which are; Seplat (+10.00%), OANDO (+9.52%), Flourmill (+8.47%), Transcorp (+5.74%), PZ Industries (+5.61%), Union Bank of Nigeria UBN (+5.36%), Forte Oil , FO (+4.38%), Dangote Sugar refinery (+3.03%), Ecobank Transnational Incorporation, ETI (+3.39%), Guaranty Trust Bank (+2.27%), UBA (+1.03%), First Bank of Nigeria Holdings, FBNH (+0.50%), Nigerian Breweries, NB (+0.48%) and Nestle Oil (+0.07%).
On the other hand, Total Nigeria Plc topped the losers’ chart, dropping by N16.80 per share to close at N183 per share. Conoil trailed with a loss of N2.70 per share to close at N24.30 per share, while Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, CCNN was down by N1.35 to close at N30 per share. Transcorp dropped by 70 kobo to close at N6.50 per share, while Red Star Express declined by 60kobo to close at N5.60 per share.
An analysis of the activity chart shows that Med-View Air was the most active, trading 100.01 million shares worth N193.02 million. Sterling Bank followed with an account of 34.03 million shares valued at N47.17 million, while UBA traded 32.51 million shares worth N316.05 million. Transcorp sold 29.26 million shares valued at N37.64 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 12.53 million shares worth N124.85 million. In all, the volume of shares traded closed higher as investors bought and sold 319.40 million shares valued at N3.05 billion in 4,091 deals.
