UBA, Zenith, other banks’ stocks dominate trading as bourse gains N584bn

Nigerian bank stocks dominated trading on Friday, as the value of shares traded on the floor of UBA, Access Corporation, Zenith Bank and GTCO crossed the billion-naira mark.

Amid the rush for bank stocks, the bourse appreciated by 1.67 per cent or N584.08 billion, pushing the stock market capitalisation up from N34.81 trillion to N35.39 trillion.

The All-Share Index rose to 65,003.39 ASI at the close of trading from 63,930.72 ASI. This is an increase of 1,072.67 basis points. About 770.79 million shares were traded in 8,915 deals, valued at N14.26 billion.

The day before, 1.35 billion shares were exchanged in 7,179 deals, worth N18.06 billion. GTCO topped the gainers’ list after its share value rose by N3.50 kobo to end trading at N38.50 kobo from N35 per share.

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Stanbic IBTC gained N5.70 kobo to move from N57 to N62.70 kobo per share. Jaiz Bank gained N0.18 kobo to close at N1.98 kobo, above its opening price of N1.80 kobo per share.

Sterling Financials’ share price was up by N0.36 kobo, moving from N3.60 kobo to N3.96 kobo per share. Unity Bank recorded a N0.15 kobo rise in share price, appreciating from N1.50 kobo to N1.65 kobo per share.

Academy topped the losers’ table after shedding N0.24 kobo to drop from N2.43 kobo to N2.19 kobo per share. Abbey’s share price dropped by N0.24 kobo to end trading at N1.12 kobo from N1.24 kobo per share.

Cornerstone lost N0.12 kobo to end trading with N1.12 kobo from N1.24 kobo per share. NSLTECH’s share dropped from N0.34 kobo to N0.31 kobo per share after losing 8.82 per cent during trading.

Guinness lost N7, dropping from N80 to N73 per share. UBA led the day’s trading with 111.20 million shares valued at N1.64 billion. Access Corporation followed with 88.03 million shares worth N1.61 billion.

Zenith Bank sold 73.35 million shares worth N2.58 billion. GTCO traded 65.33 million shares valued at N2.48 billion, while Fidelity Bank sold 57.09 million shares valued at N445.53 million.