Stock market closes with mixed results as Lasaco lists 9.25bn shares

The equities market closed on a mixed note on Thursday following the listing of an additional 9.25 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each by Lasaco Assurance Plc. Specifically, investors gained N289 million as the market capitalisation, which opened at N63.147 trillion, recorded a slight change to close at N63.147 trillion. Despite a 0.05 per cent decline, the All-Share Index settled at 102,788.20 compared to 102,836.13 recorded previously. Consequently, the year-to-date return dropped to 0.13 per cent for the ASI while advancing to 0.61 per cent for the market capitalisation. Also, market breadth closed flat, with 28 gainers and 28 losers. SCOA led the gainers’ chart by 32k to close at N3.60, and Daar Communications followed by 7k to close at 84k per share.
May & Baker added 70k to close at N9, Prestige Assurance gained 9k to close at N1.41, while Red Star Express Plc rose by 24k to close at N5.05 per share. Conversely, Morison Industries led the losers’ chart by 40k to close at N3.61, and C&I Leasing trailed by 43k to close at N3.91 per share. Ikeja Hotel decreased by N1.20 to close at N12.30, Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Plc dropped 32k to close at N3.44, and Sunu Assurances lost 48k to close at N5.50 per share. Trading activity on the NGX was robust, with the value of transactions up by 50.28 per cent.
A total of 394.36 million shares, valued at N22.78 billion, were exchanged across 12,160 deals, compared with 394.82 million shares valued at N15.16 billion traded in 10,766 deals, posted on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) led the activity chart in volume with 42 million shares, while Seplat led in value of N7.9 billion. NAN