BUA Cement gains 1.02% as stock market sustains winning streak

Chinwendu Obienyi

BUA Cement investors had cause to smile Thursday, as its price rose 1.02 per cent in over two consecutive sessions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). This came after the security’s price fell  7.40 per cent on Tuesdaybut later reversed yesterday following strong sentiment  from  investors with its price closing at N34.75 per share. This was even as undervalued stocks  clinched by bargain investors, catapulted the market’s All Share Index (ASI) up by 0.04 per cent to 26,426.20 points at the close of business on Thursday. Due to gains in Stanbic, Zenith Bank and ETI, the market’s year-to-date (ytd) loss moderated to -1.5 per cent while market capitalisation increased by N6 billion to close at N13.782 trillion.

Furthermore, activity level on the bourse surged as volume and value traded advanced by 40.4  and 178.9 per cent to 431.9 million units and N7.8 billion respectively, exchanged in 4,518 deals. Reacting to the development, analysts at Afrinvest said, “We expect market performance to remain bullish at the end of the week as investors take advantage of undervalued stocks”.

Meanwhile GT Bank was the most active stock, selling over 75.79 million shares worth N1.88 billion. Zenith Bank traded 62.74 million shares valued at N1.25 billion while Redstarex transacted 61.82 million shares valued at N184.24 million. On the price chart, 24 stocks appreciated in value while 11 others depreciated. Chams topped the gainers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at 0.22 kobo per share, Stanbic increased by 9.85 per cent to close at N35.70, Sky Aviation trailed with 9.83 per cent to close at N2.57, Cutix rose by 9.60 per cent to close at N1.37 while UAC-Prop garnered 9.41 per cent to close at 0.93 kobo.

Glaxosmithkline on the other hand, topped the losers’ chart with 9.52 per cent to close at N3.80 per share. Jaiz Bank was next with 8.20 per cent to close at 0.56 kobo, NEM dropped 7.49 per cent to close at N1.73, Eterna lost 7.34 per cent to close at N2.02 while Nestle decreased by 5.83 per cent to close at N1,017.