Stock market extends growth by N103bn

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Ltd. sustained its positive posture on Tuesday with capitalisation returning to the N20 trillion mark due to gains by some blue chips.
Speficially, the market capitalisation inched higher by N103 billion or 0.52 per cent to close at N20.026 trillion from N19.923 trillion recorded on Monday.
Also, the All-Share Index grew by 198.03 points representing an increase of 0.52 per cent to close at 38,418.04 from 38,220.01 achieved on Monday.
The upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are: Seplat Energy, Total, Zenith Bank, Berger Paints Nigeria and Access Bank.
An analysis of the price movement chart shows that 28 stocks posted gains in contrast with 10 laggards.
May and Baker Nigeria dominated the gainers’ table in percentage terms with 9.65 per cent to close at N4.43 per share.
UACN Property Development Company trailed with 9.57 per cent to close at N1.03, while Total appreciated by 9.24 per cent to close at N158.40 per share.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance rose by 9.23 per cent to close at 71k, while University Press gained 9.21 per cent to close at N1.66 per share.
On the other hand, Eterna led the losers’ chart in percentage terms by 9.73 per cent to close at N6.77 per share.
Linkage Assurance followed with 9.41 per cent to close at 77k, while Unity Bank lost 8.06 per cent to close at 57k per share.
Wapic Insurance dipped 5.08 per cent to close at 56k, while Jaiz Bank shed 1.72 per cent to close at 57k per share.
Transactions in the shares of Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 42.07 million shares valued at N96.63 million.
FBN Holdings came second with 32.41 million shares worth N242.56 million, while United Bank for Africa traded 22.74 million shares valued at N174.87 million.
Access Bank sold 13.76 million shares worth N124.70 million, while Wema Bank transacted 11.67 million shares worth N8.52 million.
In all, the volume of shares traded increased marginal as investors bought and sold 288.03 million shares valued at N2.42 billion in 4,540 deals.
This was against a total of 282.82 million shares worth N1.87 billion transacted in 4,788 deals on Monday.
The total volume of trades rose by 2.23 per cent to 288.926 billion units, valued at N2.419 billion, and exchanged in 4,540 deals.