NSE Appreciates Slightly by 0.04% Last Week

• NSE Appreciates Slightly by 0.04% Last Week

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed in the green last week following the central bank directive.

The NSE-All Share index appreciated by 0.04 percent to close the week at 27,002.15, up from 26,991.42 recorded in the previous week.

The market capitalisation of listed equities also appreciated to N13.033 trillion to take the year-to-date loss to 14.09 percent.

On a monthly basis, the exchange gained 2.45 percent, on the few profitable months in the year.

In October, the Central Bank of Nigeria had restricted local investors –individuals and corporate organisations– from investing in Open Market Operation (OMO). The directive bolstered stock market attractiveness and boosted profit to 2.45 percent in the month despite losing 2.27 percent quarter-to-date.

The activity level was low as investors exchanged 1.161 billion shares valued at N13.174 billion in 18,142 transactions last week against 1.416 billion shares worth N17.249 billion that were traded in 20,303 deals last week.

In terms of volume traded, the financial services industry led with 809.229 million shares valued at N6.219 billion exchanged in 10,415 deals.

Followed by the Conglomerate industry with 139.940 million shares valued at N585.927 million in 943 deals while the consumer goods industry with a turnover of 84.546 million shares worth N3.445 billion in 2,674 deals came third.

Top traded equities in terms of volume were Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc.