NSE

Zenith Bank, GTB, Union Bank Lift NSE Banking Index By 2.09%

Growth in the share price of Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc lifted the banking index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by 2.09 percent during trading for the past week.

READ ALSO: Nigerians rise against $1.5bn Port Harcourt refinery repair bill

The Banking Index which measures the performance of Nigerian banks on the NSE closed at 361.13 index point on Friday, March 19th from the 353.75 index point it commenced trading with on Monday, March 15th, surging by 7.38 index point, representing 2.09 percent appreciation. The banking index, however, fell by 8.11 per cent Year- till – Date (YTD)

The Financial Services Industry which includes the banking sector (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.888 billion shares valued at N12.446 billion traded in 12,019 deals, while a total turnover of 2.342 billion shares worth N19.272 billion in 20,173 deals were traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.675 billion shares valued at N23.541 billion that exchanged hands last week in 21,732 deals.

The NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalization depreciated by 0.69% to close the week at 38,382.39 and N20.082 trillion respectively.

Checks by InsideBusiness shows that Zenith Bank led the gainers in the banking sector during the week in review in terms of market capitalisation.

The tier-1 financial institution rose by 6.13 percent in value of its market capitalisation and share price, rising from N665.605 billion and N21.20 Kobo per share to N706.421 billion and N22.50 Kobo per share respectively.

The appreciation saw Zenith Bank gaining N40.815 billion and its outstanding shares remain at 31,396,493,786.

GTB followed with a N30.902 billion growth in the bank’s market share, climbing from N881.463 billion to N912.366 billion, representing 3.50 percent appreciation.

The Orange brand also recorded soared share price, moving from N29.95 Kobo per share to N31 per share.

Union Bank completed the biggest gainers’ table for the week when its share price and market capitalisation jumped by 4.95 percent, indicating a N7.280 billion surge.

The first generation bank saw its market capitalisation currently standing at N154.339 billion up from N147.059 billion, while the value of its share price rose from N5.05 Kobo per share to N5.30 Kobo per share.


Ecobank Transnational Corporation (ETI) dominated the losers for the week, losing N5.504 billion representing 5.8 percent to close at N94.500 billion in market capitalisation down from N88. 995 billion.


The share price which opened at N5.15 Kobo per share on Monday, March 15th fell to N4.85 Kobo per share on Friday Friday, March 19th.

READ MORE

Nigerian Stocks

Guinness, other stocks drive NSE ASI high by 0.41%

Nigeria’s stocks market defied earlier negative predictions to close in the green zone on Tuesday, March 16 as investors showed interest in Guinness Nigeria Plc and other value counters.

READ ALSO: Inflation rate quickens to 48-month high…

Market watchers had predicted earlier bearish performance to filter into Tuesday trading session due to lack of positive news capable of lifting investors’ sentiment.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the February inflation report with headline inflation jumping to a 4-year high at 17.33percent year-on-year (y/y) from 16.47 percent in January 2021.

At the Nigerian stock market, Guinness led the league of advancers after its share price moved up by N2.3 or 10 percent, from N23 to N25.3. Also, Vitafoam rallied from by 40kobo or 5.44percent, from N7.35 to N7.75; while Livestock Feeds made the top advancers after its share price increased by 7kobo or 3.83percent, from N1.83 to N1.9.

At the close of the trading session on Tuesday, March 16, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 0.41 percent, from 38,561.84 points to 38,720.81 points while the value of listed stocks on the Nigerian Bourse increased by N83billion, from N20.175 trillion to N20.258trillion.

Despite the record positive close of equities trading on Custom Street, more investors chose to sell stocks like Wapic (-9.09percent), Africa Prudential (-8.26percent), Fidelity Bank (-6.69percent), ETI (-5.83percent), and GTBank (-4.84percent).

READ MORE