Airtel Africa buoy Nigeria Stocks Market value by N89bn in price appreciation

The value of shares listed on the main board of the Nigerian Stock Exchange rose by N89 billion due to price appreciation recorded in Airtel Africa. Airtel Africa dominated the gainers’ chart with N51.50 to close at N640 per share. It was followed by Mobil Oil with N19.20 kobo to close at N228, while Ardova gained 45k to close at N14.45 per share. Zenith Bank gained 40k to close at N23.95, while C &I Leasing increased by 32k to close at N4.78 per share. Consequently, the All-Share index increased by 169.05 points or 0.48 per cent to close at 35,137.99 from 34,968.94 recorded on Thursday. 

In the same vein, the market capitalisation of listed equities appreciated by N89 billion to close at N18.365 trillion compared with N18.276 trillion reported on Thursday. Conversely, Dangote Cement topped the losers’ chart, dropping by six naira to close at N199 per share. Dangote Sugar Refinery trailed with a loss of 50k to close at N19, while Guaranty Trust Bank lost 35k to close at N33.25 per share. UACN dipped by 15k to close at N7.15, while FBN Holdings lost 10k to close at N7.10 per share.

An analysis of the activity chart shows that FBN Holdings was the toast of investors, trading 40.53 million shares valued at N289.39 million.

United Bank for Africa followed with an account of 35.25 million shares worth N295.90 million, while Access Bank sold 32.60 million shares valued at N276.84 million. Mutual Benefits accounted for 28.44 million shares worth N6.41 million, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated sold 27.12 million shares valued at N148.03 million. In all, investors traded 292.86 million shares worth N1.29 billion in 4,392 deals. This is against 289.39 million shares valued at N7.35 billion exchanged in 4,878 deals on Thursday.