Access bank emerges most traded stock as Bull sustains control

Access Bank emerged the most traded stock on Tuesday in terms of volume, transacting 158.6 million shares worth N1.9bn as transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange continued movement south, following strong rally in banking stocks.

As such, All-Share Index, A I), which closed at 43,119.00 points on Monday, increased by 935.72 points or 2.17% today to settle at 44,054.72, crossing the 44,000 mark for the first time since late 2008.

Likewise, market capitalisation added N335.2 billion to finish at N15.783 trillion, with the year-to-date return closing at 15.20 percent. Market breadth closed positive with 46 price gainers paired against 16 price losers. Mobil led the day’s advancers, soaring by N9.50k to settle at N199.50k per share.

It was followed by Transcorp, which sold 89.7 million shares valued at N207.6 million, and FBN Holdings, which traded 67.6 million shares for N868 million.

UBA exchanged 45.5 million shares worth N565.4 million today, while Fidelity Bank traded 36 million shares valued at N129.2 million. At the trading activities today, the volume of equities transacted by investors depreciated by 13.03 percent while the value appreciated by 21.19 percent.

Guinness Nigeria leaped N5.1k to finish at N114 per share, while Dangote Cement grew by N5 to end at N260 per share. Julius Berger advanced by N2.75k to close at N30.97k per share, while Zenith Bank increased by N1.51k to end the day at N33.51k per share.

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Conversely Nestle led the losers’ pack, dropping N10 to close the day at N1,480 per share. Lafarge dropped N1.82k to close at N52.24k per share, and PZ Cussons depreciated by 67k to finish at N23.32k per share. UAC of Nigeria declined by 50k to close at N18 per share, while CAP suffered a 49k loss to settle at N37.1k per share.

A total of 635.4 million shares exchanged hands today in 7,331 deals worth N7.64 billion, compared with 730.6 million units traded yesterday by investors in 7,964 deals valued at N6.30 billion.

 Meanwhile, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, has been named the world’s best performing stock market since the beginning of 2018, following healthy rally recorded on the bourse.

The stock market has recorded 12 percent growth two weeks into the New Year. In 2017, the local bourse was the third best performer in the world, growing by over 40 percent year-on-year.

According to report, the rising price of crude oil in the global market has buoyed this and the Nigerian equity market could rise further if the price of oil continues to increase.