Chinwendu Obienyi
Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) resumed Monday, on a positive note with the All Share Index (ASI) rising by 0.05 per cent to settle at 25, 605.59 points. This upturn was attributed to bargain hunting by investors in Dangote Cement, WAPCO and GT Bank. Consequently, market capitalisation rose to N13.358 trillion as investors gained N7 billion while year-to-date (YTD) loss improved to -4.6 per cent.
A further analysis of the market showed that the volume and value of stocks traded increased 20.8 and 45.7 per cent respectively to 257.02 million units and N3.32 billion, exchanged in 3,567 deals. Custodian was the most active stock with the sale of 49.26 million shares valued at N236.49 million. GT Bank sold 29.55 million shares worth N739.21 million while WAPCO traded about 23.58 million shares valued at N306.37 million. Reacting on the performance, Afrinvest, said “Given the bearish performance last week, we expect investors to take positions in fundamentally sound stocks. However, there is room for profit-taking”. On the price chart, 17 stocks appreciated in value while 16 others depreciated. Neimeth led the gainers’ chart with 9.55 per cent to close at N1.95 per share, Royal Exchange Plc was next with 7.14 per cent to close at 0.30 kobo, Chip Plc increased by 6.90 per cent to close at 0.31 kobo, CAP garnered 6.67 per cent to close at N16.80 while Regal Insurance gained 4.35 per cent to close at 0.24 kobo.