Local equities close higher, gain N481bn

Trading activities on the floor of Nigerian Exchange on Tuesday closed on a positive note, appreciating by N481 billion bulls dominated trading for the day.

Market capitalisation of listed equities increased by 0.30 per cent to N159.992 trillion from N159.511 trillion reported the previous day.

The NGX All Share Index also grew by 745.81 basis points to 247984.55 points from 247238.74 traded on Monday

The positive performance was driven by gains in MTN Nigeria, HBMNG, FirstHoldco and other 30 companies.

The market breath was positive with 33 gainers against 23 decliners, bringing year to date return to 59.28 per cent.

A review of transactions showed that Lasaco Insurance led gainers table with 10 per cent to close at N2.20 per unit, Linkage Assurance and TransExpress followed with a gain of 9.93 per cent each to close at N1.66 and N3.10 per unit, SUNU insurance added 9.88 per cent to close at N3.56 per share, CMFIC increased by 9.86 per cent to close at N3.79 per share

On the contrary, Meyer Paint topped losers chart, dropping by 9.97 per cent to close at N16.70 per unit, Mecure followed with a drop of 9.94 per cent to close at N56.20 per share, ABC Transport declined by 9.93 per cent to close at N6.35 per unit, C&I Leasing depreciated by 8.66 per cent to close at N5.80 per unit, HMcall dropped by 8.21 per cent to close at N3.02 per share.

Volume of trades declined by 8.217 million, representing 1.29 per cent as investors traded 629.743 million shares against 637.96 million traded on Monday. Value of transactions down by 42.21 per cent to settle at N33.06 billion.