Chinwendu Obienyi
Investors’ sentiment towards Dangote Cement continued to be strong as its share price has now risen by 15.6 per cent in three consecutive sessions.
This is coming after the cement company completed its book building and allotment of its N100 billion debut bond issuance. This propelled its share price by 15.6 per cent and market capitalisation of the stock exchange to N11.754 trillion.
The All Share Index (ASI) advanced by 0.07 per cent to close at 22,554.84 points due to price appreciation in Nestle, MTNN and Dangote Cement.
The year-to-date (YtD) loss moderated to -16 per cent. Also, activity level rose as value and volume of stocks traded climbed by 30.3 and 16.1 per cent respectively to N4.32 billion and 379.1 million units, which changed hands in 5,985 deals.
However, 20 equities depreciated in value while 18 others appreciated. Access Bank topped the losers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at N6.30 per share, Sterling Bank was next with 10 per cent to settle at N1.35, NAHCO rose by 9.79 per cent to close at N2.12, Zenith Bank gained 9.75 per cent to close at N14.75 while John Holt garnered 8.93 per cent to close at 0.51 kobo.
Meanwhile, bothered by the increasing trend and spread of Covid 19 pandemic, the Presidential Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, set up in 2012 by the Federal Government and led by the President of Dangote group, Aliko Dangote has announced a donation of N1.5billion, to further curtail the viral spread.
Announcing the donation Wednesday after an emergency meeting, Dangote said it has become imperative for all well meaning Nigerians to dip their hands into their pockets and help the Federal Government in fighting this deadly virus.
He said: “The reality of the pandemic has set in now in Nigeria and all hands must be on deck to save our country from its attendant crisis. So far, so good, we need to sustain the momentum and ensure that we curtail the spread”
The mandate of the committee was to provide support for flood victims, and by extension, similar related disaster relief situation in the country.