Unity Bank shares boost equity trading as index rises by 0.96%

By The Citizen

A rally by equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) continued on Thursday with major market indicators closing on the positive.

The volume in the sub-sector was driven by trading in the shares of Unity Bank Plc, which accounted for 85.19 per cent of turnover in the sub-sector.

This boosted the All-Share Index by 0.96 per cent or 377 basis points to close at 39,760.43, topping the 252.96 basis points or 0.65 per cent appreciation recorded by the index on Wednesday.

The market capitalisation of the listed equities also appreciated by 0.96 per cent or N121bn to close at N12.724tn compared to the N81bn or 0.65 per cent rise, which saw it close at N12.603tn the previous day.

A review of the sectoral indices showed that with the exception of NSE ASeM Index and NSE Insurance Index, all other indices appreciated.

The NSE 30 Index, for example, was up by 1.32 per cent or 23.9 basis points to close at 1,828.70 points, while the NSE Banking Index gained 1.73 per cent or 7.06 basis points to close at 414.09 points.

The NSE Consumer Goods Index, which rose by 2.16 per cent to close at 1,097.27 basis points, recorded the best sectoral performance for the day, while the NSE Insurance Index dropped by 0.11 basis points in what was the day's worst sectoral performance.

The banking sub-sector maintained its lead on the activity chart, accounting for 63 per cent of the 714.201 million shares worth N3.056bn, which were traded on Thursday.

In the sub-sector, 450.252 million shares valued at N1.015bn were exchanged by investors in 1,443 deals.

In all, a total of 29 stocks recorded price appreciation on Thursday with 26 others recording price depreciation.

Costain (West Africa) Plc led the gainers, while Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc led the losers.

While Costain gained 8.99 per cent or eight kobo to close at 97 kobo per share, Neimeth shed 4.59 per cent or five kobo to close at N104 per share.