Capital market closes H1 upbeat, as capitalisation rises by N139b

The capital market closed trading for the First Half (H1) yesterday, in an upbeat as price gains outweighed losses, leading to an appreciation in the market capitalisation by N139 billion.

At the close of trading, the all-share index (ASI) grew by 266.53 absolute points, representing an increase of 0.71 per cent to close at 37,907.28 points.

Similarly, the market capitalisation of listed equities gained N139 billion to close at N19.76 trillion. The market upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Flour Mills of Nigeria, Berger Paints and Vitafoam Nigeria.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “In the next trading session, we expect a sustained positive performance.” On the price movement chart, 20 stocks recorded price appreciation while 16 others constituted the losers’ chart.

Nestle Nigeria recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N1,540 while Ikeja Hotel followed with a gain of 9.92 per cent to close at N1.33 kobo.

Oando went up by 9.67 per cent to close at N3.29 kobo. Lasaco Assurance rose by 9.49 per cent to close at N1.50 kobo. Linkage Assurance and Berger Paints gained 9.09 per cent each to close at 84 kobo and N8.40 kobo.

On the other hand, BOC Gases Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N8.55. Sovereign Trust Insurance followed with a decline of 7.14 per cent to close at 26 kobo while PZ Cussons Nigeria lost 7.08 per cent to close at N5.25 kobo.

Regency Alliance Insurance lost 6.12 per cent to close at 46 kobo while Chams, Consolidated Hallmark Assurance and Courteville Business Solutions shed 4.76 per cent each to close at 20 kobo, 60 kobo and 20 kobo.

On the activity chart, the total volume of trades declined by 6.7 per cent to 213.704 billion units, valued at N3.232 billion and exchanged in 3,522 deals. Transactions in the shares of Wema Bank topped the activity chart with 18.306 million shares valued at N10.886 million.

Oando followed with 15.619 million shares worth N47.761 million while Mutual Benefits Assurance traded 15.101 million shares valued at N6.315 million.

Access Bank traded 13.743 million shares valued at N116.549 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) transacted 13.559 million shares worth N98.945 million.