Trading Summary For Wednesday On The Nigerian Stock Exchange

Wednesday was slightly more profitable than Tuesday on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. At the end of the trading session yesterday, a total of 278,044,318 shares with a market value of N2,272,012,250 were traded in about 3,989 deals. This shows a 33 percent improvement (in volume) from Tuesday's market but a decline in total turnover by about 22 percent. This puts the market capitalization of the Nigerian Stock Exchange at 20.23 trillion at the close of Wednesday's trading session.

At the close of the trading day, they were 14 gainers and 22 losers, from the 101 listed equities on the stock exchange which took part in trading.

On the side of gainers, Guinness Nigeria took the lead as its share price closed at 26.50 for a share, an increase of 9.96 percent. It was followed by paint manufacturer Meyer, whose shares rose 8.16 percent to close the day at N0.53. Next was Wema Bank, whose shares went up by 5.26 percent to close at N0.56, and Chams, which ended the day at N0.22, rising 4.76 percent from Tuesday.

For losers, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills was at the bottom as 10 percent was shaved off its share price, ending the day at N5.40 per share. It was followed closely by Fidson Healthcare and Cutix whose share prices depreciated by 9.89 percent and 9.78 percent respectively. Sterling Bank lost 8.33 percent to end the day at N1.64.

In trading volume, Japaul Gold and Ventures continued its streak as the company saw 46.2 million shares of its shares exchanged hands on the stock market, giving it the highest volume of traded shares. It was followed by UAC of Nigeria which recorded 32.6 million traded shares. Banks, Fidelity and Access, saw 28.47 million and 22.59 million shares change hands, the highest in the financial services industry.

For Indices, the All-Share Index of the NSE went up slightly by 0.09 percent, or 34.32 points to sit at 38,636. This is 0.36 percent less than the index last week, and an overall year-to-date loss of 4.06 percent. Other notable indices are the NSE Premium Index which went up 0.32 percent from last week, NSE Food and Beverage Index which gained 0.23 percent, NSE Pension which gained 0.16 percent, and the NSE Top 30 Index which recorded a loss of 0.36 percent.