NSE market capitalisation increases further by N76bn

The upward trend continued on the Nigerian Stock Exchange  (NSE) on Wednesday for the second consecutive day with the market capitalisation increasing by N76 billion.
The market capitalisation, which opened at N10.121 trillion, rose by N76 billion or 0.75 per cent, to close at N10.197 trillion.
In the same vein, the All-Share Index inched 221.72 points or 0.76 per cent, to close at 29,498.31, compared with the 29,276.59 recorded on Tuesday due to price gains by some blue chips.
An analysis of the price movement indicated that Dangote Cement led the gainers’ table with a gain of N7.90, to close at N175 per share.
It was followed by Nestlé with a gain of N5.01 to close at N875.01 and Total  garnered N5 to close at N265 per share.
Nigerian Breweries advanced by N3.50 to close at N149.50, while Unilever increased by N1.74, to close at N37.49 per share.
On the other hand, Seplat topped the losers’ chart, dropping by N81.51 to close at N351.99 per share.
7UP trailed with a loss of N4.98 to close at N94.77 and Guaranty Trust Bank shed N1.78 to close at N34.01 per share.
Stanbic IBTC lost 75k to close at N26, while Zenith International Bank declined by 55k to close at N18.95 per share.
The banking equities maintained leadership as the most sought after, with FBN Holdings recording the highest volume, trading 62.19 million shares worth N318.89 million.
It was followed by Diamond Bank with an exchange of 41.86 million shares valued at N40.38 million and Fidelity Bank traded 38.78 million shares worth  N40.72 million.
United Bank for Africa exchanged 34.95 million shares valued at N264.76 million, while Zenith International Bank sold 26.57 million shares worth N506.29 million.
In all, the volume of shares traded dropped by 58.78 per cent, with a turnover of 343.19 million shares valued at N3.34 billion transacted in 4,905 deals.
This was in contrast with the 832.52 million shares worth N7.59 billion transacted in 6,259 deals on Tuesday.