Market rallied by 0.81% on improved first quarter earnings

Transactions reopened on Tuesday after the public holiday to mark International Workers Day on positive note, with All-Share Index increasing by 0.81 per cent amid gains by some blue chips.
The index opened for the month of May with a growth of 208.67 points or 0.81 per cent to close at 25,965.18 against 25,756.51 recorded on Friday.
Similarly, market capitalisation which opened at N8.912 trillion rose by N62 billion to close at N8.974 trillion.
A breakdown of the price movement chart indicated that Nestle led the  gainers’ table for the day at N17.99 to close at N744.99 per share.
Seplat followed with a gain of N15 to close at N425 and Presco appreciated by N2.25 to close at N47.25 per share.
Total increased by N2  to close at N265 and Stanbic IBTC grew by 76k to N27.01 per share.
Mr Ambrose Omordion,  the Chief Operating Officer,  InvestData Ltd., attributed the growth to impressive unaudited first quarter results released for the period ended March 31, 2017.
Omordion said investors were reacting positively to the earnings released so far on the nation’s bourse.
Conversely, Forte Oil recorded the highest loss for the day, shedding N1.90 to close at N43 per share.
It was trailed by UACN with a loss of 72k to close at N13.75 , while Access Bank shed 5k to close at N6.60 per share.
Jaiz Bank was down also by 5k to close at N1.10, while FCMB Group declined by 3k to close at 93k per share.
In spite of the growth, the volume of shares dropped by  per cent 47.88 per cent with an exchange of 191.02 million shares, valued at N2.13 billion achieved in 3,392 deals.
This was against the 366.47 million shares worth N2.88 billion traded in 3,598 deals on Friday.
Zenith Bank recorded the highest volume of activities for the day,  trading 34.30 million shares worth N524.34 million.
Guaranty Trust Bank came second with a turnover of 25.65 million shares valued at N690.03 million and Wapic Insurance traded 18.39 million shares worth N9.21 million.
Transcorp exchanged 18.28 million shares worth N16.31 million and Diamond Bank sold 16.24 million shares valued at N13.55 million.