Naira depreciates more, loses N3 against dollar

…NSE market capitalization appreciates by 0.26 %

By Odunewu Segun

The naira on Monday depreciated against the dollar at the parallel market, dropping another N3 to exchange at N393, from N390 it recorded last Friday. It also traded at N505 and N435 against the Pound Sterling and the Euro respectively

At the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market, the naira closed at N385, N505 and N420 against the dollar, Pound Sterling and the Euro, respectively. The naira appreciated at the official interbank market to close at N317.34, from N320.25 posted on Friday.

Meanwhile, market indices of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded marginal growth, appreciating by 0.26 per cent due to marginal gains posted by some blue chip companies.

National Daily gathered that the market capitalization grew by N23 billion to closed at N9.381 trillion against N9.358 trillion recorded last Friday. Also, the All-Share Index which opened at 27,246.88, increased by 69.64 points or 0.26 per cent to close at 27,316.52.

Nestle led the gainers’ table, recording the highest price gain with N5.02 to close at N825.02 per share. It was followed by Dangote Cement with a gain of N2.99 to close at N183, while Nigerian Breweries appreciated by N2.42 to close at N132.92 per share.

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Unilever gained N1.75 to close at N36.75, while Lafarge Africa increased by N1.72 to close at N55 per share. Conversely, Forte oil topped the losers’ chart, dropping by N8.26 to close at N161.30 per share.

Seplat trailed with a loss of N2 to close at N240 and Guinness dipped N1.50 to close at N93.50 per share. CAP shed N1.40 to close at N27.30, while Conoil declined by N1.19 to close at N22.77 per share.

Also, the volume of shares traded improved by 12.04 per cent as investors staked N2.05 billion on 213.64 million shares transacted in 2,978 deals. This was in contrast with a total of 190.68 million shares valued at N1.33 billion traded in 2,978 deals on Friday.

In the banking sector, Zenith Bank was the toast of investors, accounting for 45.79 million shares worth N696.85 million. FBN Holdings followed with an exchange of 23.16 million shares valued at N72.44 million and Diamond Bank sold 19.01 million shares worth N21.81 million.

Access Bank transacted 16.19 million sold shares valued at N89.76 million, while UBA accounted for 16.08 million worth N67.66 million.