Nigerian stocks lifted by 0.27 per cent on Thursday as an investor preference for large-cap stocks in sectors as disparate as oil and gas, food & beverages and financial services drove gains.
The size of trade shrank by as much as 33 per cent when compared with the quantity of shares that exchanged hands at the preceding session, and the day’s positive performance owed its debts to appreciation recorded by Total, Guinness, NGX Group and Flour Mills.
Market breadth, which gauges the depth of investors’ sentiment towards trade, was positive as 31 advancers were reported compared to 9 laggards.
The broad index edged up 129.11 basis points to 47,286.34, while market capitalisation rose to N25.5 trillion.
Year to date, the index has yielded 10.7 per cent.
TOP FIVE GAINERS
Guinness led advancers, appreciating by 10 per cent to N55. Total climbed up by 9.92 per cent to N264.90. UPDC added up 9.90 per cent to end trade at N1.11. C&I Leasing advanced by 9.09 per cent to N0.36. RT Briscoe rose to N2.65, notching up 8.16 per cent.
TOP FIVE LOSERS
Veritas Capital topped the losers’ chart, declining by 4.35 per cent to close at N0.22. Union Bank went down by 3.20 per cent to end trade at N6.05. Ikeja Hotel fell to N1.42, losing 2.74 per cent. Regal Insurance slumped to N0.39, recording 2.50 per cent slip. FCMB closed at N2.92, going down by 2.34 per cent.
TOP FIVE TRADES
In all, 198.1 million shares valued at N3.4 billion were traded in 34,294 deals.
Chams was the most active stock, with 16.7 million of its shares worth N3.5 million traded in 22 deals. Transcorp saw 15.4 million units of its shares priced at N17.8 million exchanged hands in 122 transactions. Access Bank traded 16.935 million shares valued at N149.5 million in 250 deals. UBA traded 12.5 million shares estimated at N109.8 million in 175 transactions. Flour Mills transacted 12.1 million shares valued at N389.4 million in 138 deals.
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