Blue-chip stocks help Nigerian shares to further gain

Nigerian stocks traded 0.13 per cent up on Thursday, slightly extending the gain reported at the previous session in an advance led by a number of big and mid-cap equities including GTB, Nigerian Breweries, Zenith and UBA.

A rise in the insurance index by 1.01 per cent to 201.23 basis points also strengthened gains.

A positive market breadth was recorded as there were 18 gainers against eight losers at the end of trade.

The all-share index climbed 50.41 basis points to 38,615.11, while market capitalisation lifted to N20.126 trillion.

Year to date, the index is down by 4.11 per cent.

TOP FIVE GAINERS

Champion Breweries led the gainers’ chart, appreciating by 10 per cent to close at N1.98. Wapic went up by 9.43 per cent to N0.58. Lasaco rose to N1.50, notching up 7.91 per cent in the process. Berger Paints added 7.69 per cent to end today’s trade at N7.70. Mutual Benefits completed the top 5, climbing up by 6.52 per cent to N0.49.

TOP FIVE LOSERS

Consolidated Hallmark was the worst-performing stock, declining by 8.96 to close at N0.61. Unity Bank shed 3.51 per cent to close at N0.55. Sterling Bank fell to N1.54, losing 1.91 per cent. International Breweries slipped to N5.40, recording 1.82 per cent depreciation. Linkage Assurance closed at N0.55, going down by 1.79 per cent.

TOP FIVE TRADES

Altogether, 160.440 million shares worth N1.395 billion were traded in 3,260 deals.

Wema was the most active stock with 27.242 million units of its shares worth N15.003 million traded in 118 deals. Mutual Benefits had 21.393 million shares priced at N10.509 million exchange hands in 98 transactions. Zenith traded 16.265 million shares valued at N382.129 million in 311 deals. Sterling Bank traded 12.292 million shares estimated at N18.840 million in 77 transactions. FBN Holdings traded 7.917 million shares valued at N57.115 million in 102 deals.