Gains in Airtel Africa, 15 stocks lift indices further by N202b

TRANSACTIONS on the equities sector of the Nigerian Exchange Limited ( NGX) sustained a rising profile yesterday, as increased appetite in Airtel Africa and 15 stocks lifted market capitalisation further by N202 billion.

Specifically, the All Share Index ( ASI) rose by 372.57 absolute points, representing a gain of 0.81 per cent to close at 46,604.94 points. Accordingly, investors gained N202 billion in value as market capitalisation went up to N25.384 trillion.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Airtel Africa, BUA Foods, Nigeria Breweries, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated ( ETI) and Eterna.

However, market breadth closed negative as 16 stocks posted gains while 23 stocks posted declines. AXA Mansard Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 8.57 per cent to close at N1.90, per share. Nigeria Breweries followed with a gain of 6.79 per cent to close at N48.00, while ETI went up by 6.50 per cent to close at N10.65, per share.

Airtel Africa went up by 6.30 per cent to close at N1,350.00, while BUA Foods appreciated by 6.11 per cent to close at N63.40, per share.

On the other hand, Nestle Nigeria and Red Star Express led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each to close at N1,071.00 and N2.07 respectively, while Computer Warehouse Group ( CWG) followed with a decline of 9.09 per cent to close at 80 kobo, per share.

Lafarge Africa lost 6.22 per cent to close at N21.10, while International Breweries shed 5.38 per cent to close at N4.40, per share.

The total volume of trades declined by 26.2 per cent to 138.601 million shares, worth N2.171 billion, and traded in 3,434 deals. Transactions in the shares of Sterling Bank topped the activity chart with 24.248 million shares valued at N34.938 million. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria ( Transcorp) followed with 21.791 million shares worth N25.733 million, while ETI traded 10.553 million shares valued at N107.579 million.