Transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the second trading day maintained an uptrend with the market indicators growing further by 0.90 per cent.
The growth posted on Tuesday was due to price appreciation in Dangote Cement, Zenith Bank and Access Bank.
Consequently, the All-Share Index rose by 247.25 pojnts or 0.90 per cent to close at 27,586.93 compared with 27,339.68 recorded on Monday.
Also, the market capitalisation which opened at N13.199 trillion inched N117 billion to close at N13.316 trillion.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Dangote Cement, Zenith Bank, Presco, Nascon and PZ Cussons Nigeria.
Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said, “Following the recent trend in the market, we maintained our bullish outlook on the market this week.”
Mr Ambrose Omordion, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd. attributed the development to repositioning of portfolios by institutional investors and fund managers ahead of 2019 full-year earnings.
Omordion said that local institutional investors and fund managers were settling down to reposition their portfolios ahead of the 2019 full-year earnings reporting season, in expectation of positive economic performance.
He said that the crashing rates in the money market and fixed income instruments contributed to the bullish trend.
Market breadth closed positive with 26 stocks gainers and 20 decliners.
Fidson and PZ Cussons led the gainers’ chart in percentage terms, growing by 9.80 per cent each, to close at N2.80 and N5.60 per share respectively.
Unity Bank followed with a gain 9.59 per cent to close at 80k per share.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance grew by 9.09 per cent to close at 36k, while Cornerstone Insurance appreciated by 8.62 per cent to close at 63k per share.
On the other hand, NCR led the losers’ chart in percentage terms, dropping by 10 per cent to close at N4.05, per share.
Livestock Feeds followed with a decline of eight per cent to close at 46k, while Courteville dipped 7.69 to close at 24k per share.
Forte Oil lost 6.11 per cent to close at N16.90, while Jaiz Bank shed 4.41 per cent to close at 65k per share.
However, the total volume traded decreased by 14.23 per cent with a turnover of 446.38 million shares, worth N5.82 billion traded in 5,727 deals.
This was in contrast with an exchange of 520.43 million shares worth N5.35 billion transacted in 5,784 deals on Monday.
Transactions in the shares of United Bank for Africa (UBA) topped the activity chart with 86.78 million shares valued at N709.37 million.
Zenith Bank came second with 73.21 million shares worth N1.51 billion, while FBN Holdings accounted for 34.72 million shares valued at N240.98 million.
Access Bank sold 27.44 million shares worth N297.39 million, while FCMB Group traded 23.71 million shares valued at N48.898 million. (NAN)
