By Cynthia Ezekwe
Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), closed bullish on Thursday, with market capitalisation up N564.84 billion, a 1.61 per cent increase from N34.91 trillion to N35.48 trillion.
The All-Share Index ASI) stood at 65,204.82, up from 64,167.39, after bagging 1,037.43 basis points during the session.
An aggregate of 361.19 million shares were traded in 5,531 deals on the exchange floor on Thursday, at a worth of N5.74 billion.
At the end of trading activities on Thursday, Chellaram topped the gainers chart as its share prices appreciated by N0.40 kobo to rise from N4 to N4.40 kobo per share; SCOA grew by N0.10 kobo, up from N1.07 to N1.17 kobo per share;  Dangote Cement ended trading with N349.90 kobo from N320 per share, rising by N29.90 kobo; Thomas Wyatt gained N0.11 kobo to end trading at N1.29 kobo, having opened with N1.18 kobo per share; while Universal Insurance’s stock was up by 9.09 per cent, closing at N0.24 kobo from N0.22 kobo per share.
On the contrary, CAP led the losers chart as it depreciated by N2.20 kobo, dwindling from N22 to N19.80 kobo per share; Academy declined by N0.22 kobo to end trading at N2.13 kobo, after opening at N2.35 kobo per share; Dangote Sugar followed the same path, losing N2.30 kobo after trading hours, to sell at N32.40 kobo from N34.70 kobo per share; Glaxo Smith reported a decline of N9.85 kobo from the previous day’s share price of N9.85 kobo to end trading at N9.20 kobo per share; while Chams’ share depreciated to N0.95 kobo from N0.99 kobo, after losing 5.05 per cent during trading hours.
Top five trading equities in the stock exchange were FBN Holdings, Fidelity Bank, Universal Insurance, Transcorp, and UBA.
FBN Holdings recorded 140.17 million shares, valued at N2.60 billion, were traded on its floor; Fidelity Bank reported 21.55 million shares valued at N165.18 million;   Universal Insurance saw investors trade 18.70 million shares valued at N4.21 million;   Transcorp recorded 17.30 million shares exchanged on its floor, worth N62.60 million; while UBA reported 13.08 million shares, valued at N188.99 million, exchanged investors’ hands.
