Nigerian stocks hit two-week in multi-sectoral advance

Nigerian stocks hit two-week in multi-sectoral advance

*Different sectors including ICT, banking as well as consumer goods drove gain.

Nigerian stocks rose 0.12 per cent on Friday, shooting the benchmark index to its peak since February 11, and marking a week of positive return during which equities yielded 0.40 per cent.

Disparate sectors including ICT, banking as well as consumer goods drove gain, with MTNN, FBNH Holdings and International Breweries specifically leading the march.

Seplat, Nigeria’s biggest quoted energy company, notified the bourse of its pact with Mobil Producing Nigerian Nigeria Limited, a local unit of Texas-headquartered ExxonMobil with a view to taking over its shallow water assets, a deal that could rise to $1.6 billion.

Seplat, simultaneously listed in Lagos and London, saw its shares jump 7.53 per cent in the British capital following the announcement.

Market breadth, a metric used by market watchers to measure investors’ sentiments towards trade, turned out positive as 21 gainers were recorded relative to 17 losers.

The all-share index inched up by 56.38 points to 47,38242, while market capitalisation closed higher at N25.5 trillion.

From the turn of the year till now, the index has been up 10.8 per cent.

TOP FIVE GAINERS

ETranzact appreciated by 9.92 per cent to N2.66. Royal Exchange went up by 9.65 per cent to N1.25. RT Briscoe rose to N0.94, notching up 9.30 per cent in the process. Cornerstone added 7.69 per cent to end trade at N0.70. Niger Insurance completed the top 5, climbing by 7.69 per cent to N0.28.

TOP FIVE LOSERS

Cutix was the worst performing stock, declining by 8.47 per cent to close at N2.70. NEM shed 5 per cent to close at N3.80. Veritas Kapital fell to N0.22, losing 4.35 per cent. Wapic declined to N0.48, recording 4 per cent decline. UPDC closed at N1.04, going down by 3.70 per cent.

TOP FIVE TRADES

FCMB was the most active stock with 50.1 million shares worth N152.9 million traded in 41 deals. Transcorp traded 37 million shares priced at N45.6 million in 216 transactions. UBA had 19.3 million shares valued at N167.7 million traded in 155 deals.

FBN Holdings traded 17.7 million shares estimated at N205 million in 161 transactions. GTCO traded 10.1 million shares valued at N273.2 million in 259 deals.