Stock Market Reverses Losses as Mobil, Others Rise

• Stock Market Reverses Losses as Mobil, Others Rise

The equities market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange pared its recent losses on Wednesday, with the market capitalisation rising by N720bn to close at N8.814tn.

The NSE market capitalisation dropped to N8.742tn on Tuesday from N8.828tn on Friday, while the All-Share Index fell to 25,266.15 basis points from 25,516.34 bps.

The price appreciation recorded by 23 stocks helped to lift the market after three consecutive days of decline, with the ASI increasing by 0. 81 per cent to 25,471.69 bps.

The share price of Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc recorded the biggest increase on Wednesday, few days after Nipco Plc announced the completion of its acquisition of ExxonMobil’s 60 per cent equity stake in the company. It jumped by 10.25 per cent to close at N347.28.

Other top gainers were Lafarge Africa Plc, 7-Up Bottling Company Plc, Oando Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria and Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc.

Lafarge Africa was up by 10.23 per cent to close at N47.62 per share, while 7-Up Bottling Company appreciated by 10.22 per cent to N95.89 per share.

Oando gained 10.10 per cent to N5.78 per share, while Union Bank and NAHCO increased by five per cent to close at N5.25 and N2.31 per share respectively.

Fifteen stocks recorded losses on Wednesday, with Trans-Nationwide Express, Fidson Healthcare, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated leading the pack.

Trans-Nationwide Express shed 8.08 per cent to close at N0.91 per share, while Fidson depreciated by five per cent to close at N0.95 per share.

PZ Cussons Nigeria eased by 4.93 per cent to close at N13.87 per share; NPF MfB dropped by 4.84 per cent to N1.18 per share, and ETI lost 4.62 per cent to N8.05 per share

A total of 158.705 million shares worth N1.127bn were traded in 3,048 deals on Wednesday.