Zenith Bank, BUA Foods, GTCO shares drive stock market

Zenith Bank, BUA Foods and Guaranty Trust Bank stocks on Wednesday drove the performance of the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX).

The market gained N34 billion as market capitalisation closed at N28.136 trillion from N28.102 trillion recorded on Tuesday.

Also, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased marginally by 61.9 basis points or 0.12 per cent gain to close at 51,657.56 as against 51,595.66 posted the previous day.

Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 0.79 per cent.

Market breadth closed positive as 21 stocks gained, while 12 lost.

A breakdown of the price movement table showed that Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), Living Trust Mortgage Bank and Nigerian Breweries topped the gainers’ table with a gain of 10 per cent each to close at N7.70, N1.76 and N45.10 per share respectively.

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) trailed with a gain of 9.97 per cent each to close at N3.86 per share, while Fidelity Bank was up by 9.86 per cent to close at N4.79 per share.

Conversely, Champion Breweries led the losers’ table, dropping by 10 per cent each to close at N4.95 per share, respectively.

Unity Bank followed with a decrease of 6.78 per cent to close at 55k per share.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) shed 3.61 per cent to close at N8, while Jaiz Bank declined by 3.33 per cent to close at 87k per share.

Also, Chi Plc was down by 2.99 per cent to close at 65k per share.

Analysis of today’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions increasing by 106 per cent.

A total of 625.73 million shares valued at N13.53 billion were exchanged in 4,156 deals.

The Star