Chinwendu Obienyi
The volume of transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 38 per cent to 276.26 million units at the close of Tuesday’s session.
This was even as the All Share Index (ASI) notched up 0.36 per cent to close at 27,871.90 points while market capitalisation increased by N52 billion to close at N14.516 trillion. The rebound in the market was attributed in gains recorded in the shares of MTNN, WAPCO and GT Bank which spurred the market’s year-to-date (YTD) return to 3.8 per cent.
In terms of volume, the banking tickers – UBA (49.5 million units), GT Bank (41.4 million units) and Zenith Bank (30.2 million units) led while GT Bank (N1.2 billion), Zenith Bank (N604.8 million) and MTNN (N537.7 million) led by value. Further analysis showed that activity level improved as volume and value traded rose 38.0 and 92.8 per cent to 276.26 million units and N3.7 billion respectively, exchanged in 3,690 deals.
However, 17 stocks depreciated in value while 13 others appreciated. Sky Aviation led the laggards with 9.89 per cent to close at N3.37, Caverton was next with 9.86 per cent to close at N2.65, MRS dropped 9.80 per cent to close at N13.80, Sovereign Insurance fell by 9.09 per cent to close at 0.20 kobo while Linkage Assurance declined to 8.93 per cent to close at 0.51 kobo.
On the flipside, UACN led the gainers’ chart with 9.41 per cent to close at N9.30 per share. Japaul Oil followed with 8.33 per cent to close at 0.26 kobo, Cadbury garnered 4.44 per cent to close at N9.40, MTNN gained 4.35 per cent to close at N120 while AIICO increased by 3.66 per cent to close at 0.85 kobo. Reacting to the development, traders noted that despite yesterday’s positive performance, they maintained a bearish outlook on the market due to waning investor sentiment.