Equity market ends week with N119bn boost

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The Nigerian stock market sustained its bullish momentum on Friday, closing the week on a positive note as investors gained N119 billion.

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The uptrend was driven by price appreciation in stocks such as Eterna Plc, Premier Paints, Union Dicon Salt, Fortis Global Insurance and John Holt as well as 30 other equities.

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Specifically, the market capitalisation increased by 0.08 per cent, representing a gain of N119 billion, to close at N126.436 trillion compared with N126.317 trillion recorded at the opening of trading.

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Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 161 points or 0.08 per cent to settle at 196,968.15, up from 196,807.15 posted in the previous session.

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Also, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return improved to 26.58 per cent while the market breadth closed positive with 35 gainers and 34 losers.

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Eterna led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent, settling at N42.35, Premier Paint trailed by 9.77 per cent, finishing at N14.60 while Union Dicon Salt increased by 9.70 per cent, ending the session at N16.40 per share.

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Fortis Global Insurance added by 9.56 per cent, closing at N1.49 and John Holt rose by 9.25 per cent, finishing at N9.45 per share.

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On the flip side, RT Briscoe led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, ending the session at N12.06, while Mecure Industries, SCOA and ABC Transport declined by 9.96 per cent each, closing at N61.50, N34.35 and N6.24 per share respectively.

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Similarly, Berger Paints dropped by 9.93 per cent, settling at N66.65 per share.

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Market activity declined for the day as total volume traded dropped by 7.55 per cent to 586.16 million shares valued at N30.64 billion in 62,699 deals.

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Meanwhile, First Holding recorded the highest volume with 43.91 million shares traded, accounting for 7.49 per cent of the day’s total volume.

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GTCO recorded the highest value at N4.62 billion, accounting for 15.09 per cent of value traded for the day.

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