Stock Exchange Opens March With 0.34% Growth

Transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) opened for the month of March on a positive trend, after declining for three consecutive days.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the crucial market indices rebounded by 0.34 percent with Nestle leading the gainers’ pack.

Specifically, the All-Share Index inched 108.54 pointed or 0.34 percent to close at 31,827.24 compared with 31,718.70 recorded on Thursday.

Similarly, the market capitalization which opened at ₦11.828 trillion rose by ₦40 billion or 0.34 percent to close at ₦11.868 trillion.

Nestle recorded the highest price gain to lead the gainers’ table, gaining ₦40 to close at ₦1,510 per share.

Total followed with a gain of ₦10 to close at ₦200, while Dangote Cement added ₦1.30 to close at ₦196.60 per share.

C &I Leasing improved by 66k to close at ₦7.27, while Nigerian Breweries increased by 50k to close at ₦80 per share.

Conversely, Unilever topped the losers’ chart, dropping by ₦2.30 to close at ₦38.70 per share.

International Breweries trailed with a loss of ₦1.25 to close at ₦25, while Dangote Flour shed ₦1 to close at ₦9.90 per share.

Dangote Sugar declined by 35k to close at ₦14.65, while Union Bank of Nigeria was down by 30k to close at ₦6.70 per share.

However, the volume of shares exchanged stood at 341.95 million shares valued at ₦3.75 billion transacted in 4,513 deals.

This was in contrast with a turnover of 411.69 million shares worth ₦5.27 billion traded in 5,320 deals on Thursday.

Zenith Bank was the most active stock, exchanging 64.51 million shares valued at ₦1.55 billion.

Diamond Bank followed with an account of 44.27 million shares worth ₦102.09 million, while Transcorp traded 43.39 million shares worth ₦54.53 million.

Access Bank exchanged 37.89 million shares valued at ₦220.74 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 21.57 million shares worth ₦47.87 million.