The nation’s stock market halted its eight-day losing streak on Thursday on the back of the price appreciation recorded by Dangote Cement Plc and six other stocks.
The market, which had declined for eighth straight trading sessions amid negative sentiment, rebounded on Thursday despite the losses recorded by 46 stocks.
The All-Share Index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange rose by 0.78 per cent to 41,014.30 basis points while the market capitalisation increased by N170bn to N21.29tn.
The top five gainers at the end of trading on the floor of the NSE were Dangote Cement, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc and Unilever Nigeria Plc.
Dangote Cement appreciated by 7.04 per cent to close at N228 per share while Mutual Benefits gained 5.41 per cent to close at N0.39 per share.
Sovereign Trust Insurance rose by 3.7 per cent to close at N0.28 per share; Vitafoam was up 3.33 per cent to close at N9.30 per share, while Unilever Nigeria gained 2.57 per cent to close at N13.95 per share.
Linkage Assurance Plc and Livestock Feeds Plc, which led the losers, saw their share prices drop by 10 per cent each to close at N0.54 and N2.25 respectively.
Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc shed 9.96 per cent to close at N2.08 per share; Northern Nigeria Flour Mills Plc fell by 9.88 per cent to N7.02 per share; while Portland Paints & Products Nigeria Plc lost 9.84 per cent to close at N2.84 per share.
Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said stocks snapped an eight-day sell-off on bargain buying in bellwethers, namely Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria.
They said the month-to-date loss moderated to -3.3 per cent, while the year-to-date gain increased to +1.9 per cent.
The analysts said, “The total volume of trades increased by 247.4 per cent to 1.27 billion units, valued at N6.40bn, and exchanged in 6,573 deals. TRANSCORP was the most traded stock by volume at 55.75 million units, while MTNN was the most traded stock by value at N1.57bn.”
It added that performance across sectors was broadly negative.
– Punch