Investors up deals in bank stocks at Customs Street

 Equity investors at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Tuesday raised their bet in bank stocks, evidenced in the deals recorded at the close of trading on the Nigerian bourse.

This was witnessed mainly in trading activities on the shares of four banks–namely Wema Bank plc, Access Bank plc, Ecobank Transnational plc, and Zenith Bank plc as they contributed majorly to the 291,264,541 shares traded at the close of transactions. This total volume of shares worth N4.188billion was achieved in 5,317 deals.

For instance, equity dealers exchanged 36,046,843 shares of Wema Bank plc valued at about N61.274million; while 27,353,061 shares of Access Bank plc valued at N283.861million were also traded.

Also, 25,603,050 shares of Ecobank Transnational plc worth N363.231million were also traded; while 24,573,453 shares of Zenith Bank plc worth N528.832million were also exchanged. In addition, deals recorded in the shares of Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) plc were also high as 25,165,946 shares worth N37.989million were traded.

The stock market opened this week on a positive noted as the All Share Index (ASI) and market capitalization trended upwards. The NSE All Share Index rallied from 33,207.21 points to 34,351.87 points; while market cap closed high at N10.994trillion.

In addition, at the close of trading, the shares of Total Nigeria plc rallied most from by N10.95, from N169.05 to N180; followed by Nestle Nigeria plc which rose from N950 to N960.02, adding N10.02.

Other gainers include Okomu Oil Palm plc which gained N7.25, from N72.50 to N79.75; Dangote Cement also rallied from N148.50 to N155, adding N6.50; while Lafarge Cement WAPCO gained N4, from N76 to N80.

On the declining side, NewGold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) dipped most by N6, from initial price of N2, 466 to close at N2, 460.

This was followed by Julius Berger Nigeria plc dropped from N53 to N51, losing N2. Other top losers are NAHCO which declined from N 7.49 to N6.75, losing N0.74; Livestock Feeds plc which lost N0.26, from N2.67 to N2.41; while PharmaDeko dipped by N0.23, from N2.30 to N2.07.

 

IHEANYI NWACHUKWU