Fidelity Bank, Others Top Gainers In NSE

• Fidelity Bank, Others Top Gainers In NSE

According to a data from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos, low prices of equities in the financial services sector and improved third-quarter results by some banks, boosted the performance of the exchange in October.

As contained in the data, equities in the banking sector dominated the gainers’ table with Fidelity Bank Plc topping the chart as the best performing stock by percentage.

The breakdown of the data revealed that, during the period, Fidelity Bank Plc rose by 20 per cent to close at N2.04 per share against the opening price of N1.70.

Fidelity was followed by Diamond Bank Plc with a growth of 19.49 per cent to close at N1.41.

Newrest ASL rose by 17.86 per cent to close at N6.60  per share.

Other top gainers alongside Fidelity, Diamond and Newrest ASL are; Cadbury, Forte Oil, Zenith Bank, Total, Mutual Benefits, Sterling Banl and UPL.

Contrariwise to the gainers, Cutix emerged the top loser, with a 50.49 per cent loss to close at N2.03 per share against the opening price of N4.10.

Cutix loss, however, was attributed to price adjustment for bonus share of one ordinary share for every one held and 20 kobo dividend.

Behind Cutix as a top loser, is Mcnichols, with a 43.06 per cent to close at 41 kobo.

Niger Insurance dipped 29.73 percent to close at 26 kobo.

Alongside Cutix, Mcnichols and Niger Insurance, other top losers includes; Honeywell, Lafarge Africa, GSK, Union Diagnostics, Beta Glass, Fidson and Meyer.

Accordingly, the All-Share Index in the period under review, shed a 300.10 points or 0.92 percent to close at 32,466.27 compared with the 32,766.37 achieved in September.

Similarly, the market capitalization which opened N11.962 trillion lost N110 billion or 0.92 percent to close at N11.852 trillion.

Analysts at INVESTORS KING LTD, however, attributed the development to the withdrawal of foreign investors and the political atmosphere in the country.

The Analysts further stated that, as the 2019 election in Nigeria draws close, there is uncertainty in the air, investors pessimism is beginning to creep in the market; and this is bound to stir up flurry investment activities.