NSE: Major blue chips maintain price rally

Some blue chips posted price appreciation on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday led by Nestle Nigeria Plc.
Nestle led the gainers’ table with N48.90 to close at N1, 450 per share.
Dangote Cement followed with a gain of N4.90 to close at N194.90, while Nigerian Breweries garnered N2.25 to close at N81 per share.
 
Cement Company of Northern of Nigeria appreciated by N2.10 to close at N25.10, while Union Bank of Nigeria added 60k to close at N6.75 per share.
 
Consequently, the All-Share Index rose by 412.96 points or 1.38 per cent to close at 31,005.17 compared with 30,583.21 achieved on Thursday.
 
Also, the market capitalisation which opened at N11.404 trillion inched N158 billion or 1.39 per cent to close at N11.562 trillion.
 
Conversely, Betaglass topped the losers’ chart, dropping by N5.30 to close at N55 per share.
 
Berger Paint trailed with a loss of 85k to close at N7.75, while Guaranty Trust Bank was down by 45k to close at N31.95 per share.
 
Zenith Bank dropped by 20k to close at N21.50, while United Bank for Africa also lost 20k to close at N7.30 per share.
 
Analysts at Cordros Capital reiterated that equities market would maintain negative outlook in the short to medium term.
 
“We reiterate our negative outlook for the equities market in the short to medium term, amidst political concerns ahead of the 2019 elections, and the absence of a positive market trigger.
 
“However, positive macroeconomic fundamentals remain supportive of recovery in the long term,” they said.
 
In the same vein, the market volume rose by 30.21 per cent as investors bought and sold 300.80 million shares valued at N3.76 billion in 3,317 deals.
 
This was against the turnover of 231.01 million shares worth N3.26 billion exchanged in 3,207 deals on Thursday.
 
Diamond Bank remained investors delight, accounting for 72.18 million shares worth N151.91 million.
Zenith Bank came second with an account of 46.69 million shares valued at N1.06 billion, while Access Bank traded 15.87 million shares worth N90.15 million.