Ikeja Hotel Tops Gainers As Investors Gain N111 bn

Transactions on the Nigerian Exchange ended on the positive for the first time in two weeks on Friday as the markets gained N111 billion.

The All-share index, which tracks the general market movement climbed 212.41 points, or 0.56% to end the week at 38256.95 basis points. 

The rebound, however, was not enough to cover all losses as the markets ended the week with a N34.97 billion loss, bringing market capitalization to N19.94 trillion.

Analysis of market data showed a 7 percent improvement in volume, 175 percent improvement in turnover despite a 7 percent decline in deals.

Market breadth also improved significantly at the end of Friday's trading with 31 gainers against 14 losers.

Friday's top gainer was Ikeja Hotel, which led with a 10 percent upsurge, closing at N1.10 per share, followed by Royal Exchange (+9.46%), Neimeth International Pharma (+9.3%), Japaul Gold and Ventures (+9.26%), and Mutual Benefits Assurance (+9.09%). On the losing side, Academy Press came out last with an end-of-day price depreciation of 8.33 percent at 33kobo per share, followed by Lasaco Assurance (-7.69%), John Holt (-7.35%), and Presco (-3.8%). 

Guaranty Trust Bank recorded the highest volume of 46.3 million traded shares, followed by Zenith Bank (20.24 million), Transnational Corp. of Nigeria (20.16 million), and Fidelity Bank (17.54 million).