Nigerian stocks advanced 0.15 per cent on Thursday as investors continued to sustain interest in shares, with consumer goods equities being the most preferred of all the sectors.
Blue chip stocks including cement-maker WAPCO, Presco, Okomu Oil and Flour Mills drove the climb in a session during which trade volume was up by 2 per cent.
NGX 30, the index that tracks the top thirty stocks in terms of liquidity and market capitalisation, surged to its highest point ever, advancing 0.51 per cent to 2,055.9 points
Market breadth, an indicator of investors’ sentiment towards trade, was positive as 32 advancers were recorded compared to 23 losers.
The all-share index climbed 79.3 basis points to 52,917.8, while market capitalisation rose to N28.5 trillion at the end of trade.
Year to date, the index is up 23.9 per cent.
TOP FIVE GAINERS
Fidson led gainers, appreciating by 9.95 per cent to close at N11.38. Eterna added up 9.94 per cent to end trade at N7.19.
McNichols went up by 9.91 per cent to N1.22. GSK rose to N8.35, notching up 9.87 per cent in the process. WAPCO completed the top 5, climbing by 9.86 per cent to N31.75.
TOP FIVE LOSERS
Academy Press was the worst performing stock, declining by 9.73 per cent to close at N1.67. Consolidated Hallmark shed 9.68 per cent to close at N0.56.
Linkage Assurance fell to N0.63, losing 8.70 per cent. Veritas Kapital dipped to N0.21, recording 4.55 per cent depreciation. AIICO closed at N0.76, going down by 3.80 per cent.
TOP FIVE TRADES
In all, 426 million shares estimated at N5.7 billion were traded in 7,639 deals.
Transcorp was the most active stock with 94.4 million units of its shares worth N3.3 billion traded in 414 deals. Zenith Bank shares of 24.5 million units, priced at N590.1 million exchanged hands in 515 transactions.
WAPCO traded 19.2 million shares estimated at N601.9 million in 347 transactions. Abbey Building Society traded 24.4 million shares valued at N181.4 million in 6 deals. Access Holdings had 17 million shares valued at N163.6 million traded in 209 deals.
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