Trading defies month end pressure on NSE, index up by 0.73%

Transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange  (NSE)  resumed on Tuesday after the holiday to mark the Democracy Day on a positive note, with the index improving by 0.73 per cent.
The All-Share Index rose by 212.07 points or 0.73 per cent to close at 29,276.59 compared with 29,064.52 achieved on Friday.
Similarly,  the market capitalisation inched N74 billion or 0.74 per cent to close at N10.121 trillion against the N10.047 trillion  posted on  Friday, amid price growth.
Mr Ambrose Omordion, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd., said that the market defied month end sell pressure in May due to the improvement in economic data as well as  market fundamentals.
Omordion said that relative stability in the exchange rate as a result of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) new foreign exchange policy boosted liquidity in the export and import window of foreign exchange market.
A breakdown of the price movement table indicated that Presco led the gainers’ table for the day,  gaining N1.99 to close at N51 per share.
Flour Mills followed with a gain of N1.01 to close at N21.24 and Nigerian Breweries gained N1  to close at N146 per share.
Lafarge Wapco increased by 55k to close at N48, while Guaranty Trust Bank added 52k to close at N35.80 per share.
On the other hand, Seplat recorded the highest loss for the day, shedding N19.50  to close at N370.50 per share.
It was trailed by 7UP with a loss of N5.24 to close at N99.75 and Enamel shed N1.46 to close at N27.87 per share.
International Breweries was down by 91k to close at N21.05  and Okomu Oil depreciated by 49k to close at N52.50 per share.
The volume of shares traded increased by 14.74 per cent as investors bought and sold 832.52 million shares worth N7.59 billion transacted in 6,259 deals.
This was against a total of 725.54 million  shares valued at N5.72 billion traded in  4,435 deals on Friday.
Diamond Bank emerged the most traded with a turnover of 194.21 million shares worth N184.75 million.
Champion Breweries followed with 83.97 million shares valued at N173.83 million and GT Bank traded 76.59 million shares worth N2.81 billion.
Zenith International Bank traded 68.68 million shares valued at N1.42 billion and FBN Holdings exchanged 66.23 million shares worth N352.88 million.