Trending Business News:Dangote Cement helps stocks halt seven-session fall

Gains by Dangote Cement Plc and 11 other stocks on Tuesday helped the equities segment of the Nigerian Stock Exchange to close on a positive note for the first time in eight trading sessions.

Dangote Cement rose by 4.97 per cent or N8.52 to close at N180 per share, topping the gainers’ table.
It was followed by Great Nigeria Insurance Plc and FCMB Group Plc, which rose by four per cent and 3.98 per cent to close at 52 kobo and N2.35 per share, respectively.

Also among the gainers were Wema Bank Plc and Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, which appreciated by 3.49 per cent and 2.81 per cent to close at 89 kobo and N5.85 per share in that order.

As a result of the gains, the market capitalisation of the listed equities rose by N7bn or 0.68 per cent to close at N10.321tn, while the NSE All-Share Index gained 203.18 basis points or 0.68 per cent to close at 30,112.62 basis points.

This came a day after the market capitalisation and NSE ASI fell by 2.59 per cent to N10.251tn and N29,909.44 basis points, respectively.

The Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Stockbrokers Plc, Mr. Rotimi Fakayejo, described Tuesday’s gains as reckless. He explained that if the gains by Dangote Cement were discounted, the stock market would have witnessed a negative close.

He said, “It was a reckless gain that we saw today because if you discount the gain of Dangote Cement; if you look at all other sectors, they closed negative. The only thing that sprang a surprise today was Dangote Cement and it was demand-driven. There is absolutely nothing else that warranted the gains that we saw today.”

In contrast to the gainers, 33 stocks recorded losses on Tuesday, led by PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, which shed 9.74 per cent or N3.22 to close at N29.83 per share.
PZ was followed by Evans Medicals Plc, which was down by 9.52 per cent or eight kobo to close at 76 kobo per share.

Eterna Plc, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc and Unity Bank Plc fell by five per cent each to close at N1.90, N2.66 and N1.71 per share, respectively.

In all, 307.989 million shares worth N3.616bn were traded in 4,365 deals on Tuesday.

[Punch]