Trading in the shares of Zenith Bank accounted for over 95 per cent of the total volume of stocks amounting to 672.56 million shares worth N15.21 billion in over 2,436 deals at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday.
This comes as the domestic bourse closed Thursday’s trading session with a marginal 0.05 per cent recovery in all equities performances to close at 31,984.60 points, while market capitalization increased by N5 billion to close at N11.676 trillion from N11.671 trillion recorded on Wednesday.
Analysts at Afrinvest said: “We do not rule out the possibility of bargain hunting activities but we still maintain our bearish outlook in the near time.”
Similarly, moderate gains by the components of the banking, consumer goods and the insurance sectors mitigated the loss from the oil and gas sector while industrial goods remained unchanged.
Performance on the price chart recorded a positive margin as 16 stocks appreciated in value while 13 others depreciated.
Flour Mill topped the gainers’ chart with 9.95 per cent to close at N20.45 per share, Chip Plc was next with 8.57 per cent to close at 0.38 kobo, Union Diagnostics gained 8 per cent to close at 0.27 kobo, PZ garnered 7.78 per cent to close at N9.70 while Prestige rose by 7.46 per cent to close at 0.72 kobo.
On the flipside, Ikeja Hotel led the laggards with a decline of 9.76 per cent to close at N1.85 per share. Jaiz Bank followed with 8.89 per cent to close at 0.41 kobo, Law Union fell by 8.77 per cent to close at 0.52 kobo, AG Leventis decreased by 8.33 per cent to close at 0.33 kobo while Wema Bank lost 5.36 per cent to close at 0.53 kobo per share.
Zenith Bank was the toast of investors, selling 605.54 million shares worth N14.533 million, Transcorp traded 9,338 shares valued at N10.804 million while FBN Holdings transacted 7,290 shares worth N54.995 million.
