Stock market halts five-day losing streak, gains N24bn

Activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange closed on a positive note on Thursday, putting a halt to five consecutive days of losing streak.

The market breadth was also positive at the end of trading as 19 gainers emerged against 10 losers.

The key market performance indices, namely the NSE All Share Index and the market capitalisation, rose by 0.17 per cent amid positive market sentiment.

The ASI gained 34.4 basis points to close at 27,568.91 bps as against the 27,523.08 bps recorded on Wednesday, while the market capitalisation of equities appreciated by N24bn to close at N14.36tn.

A total of 484.9 million shares were traded in 4,187 deals on Thursday.

The premium board was the most active with 111.1 million shares traded by investors in 1,642 deals, largely driven by activities in the shares of Zenith Bank Plc and the United Bank for Africa Plc.

The banking sector was boosted by activities in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc.

AIICO Insurance Plc and Ikeja Hotel Plc led the gainers’ table with a gain of 10 per cent each to close at 99 kobo and N1.21 per share, respectively.

United Capital Plc followed with a gain of 9.94 per cent to close at N3.54 per share, while Wapic Insurance Plc added 9.68 per cent to close at 34 kobo per share.

On the other hand, Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc and SFS Real Estate Investment Trust led the losers’ table, dropping 10 per cent each to close at 81 kobo and N76.95 per share, respectively