Equity market still upbeat, rising by 0.12%

The nation's equity market on Wednesday remained on a bullish note with bargain buying on Nestle and other 10 stocks.

Specificaly, the market capitalisation rose by N32 billion or 0.12 per cent to close at N26.376 trillion compared with N26.344 trillion posted on Tueday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index inched higher by 59.8 points, or 0.12 percent, to close at 48,426.49, up from 48,366.69 on Tuesday.

Accordingly, the year-to-date return increased to 13.37 percent.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium-cap stocks, including among investors' interests in Nestle, Nigerian Breweries, and Geregu Power.

Market sentiment closed negative, with 11 gainers in relation to 18 losers.

Thomas Wyatt Nigeria dominated the gainers' chart in percentage terms by 10 percent to close at $44 per share.

JapualGold and Venture followed with 7.41 per cent to close at 29k, while Honeywell Flour Mill rose by 6.14 per cent to close at N2.42 per share.

Mayer and Baker improved by 5.26 percent to close at N4, while First City Monument Bank appreciated by 4.62 percent to close at N3.40 per share.

On the other hand, Nigerian Breweries led the losers' chart in percentage terms by 16.30 percent to close at N38.50 per share.

Scoa Nigeria followed with 9.38 per cent to close at 87k while Unity Bank lost by 7.62 per cent to close at 53k per share.

Cornerstone Insurance lost 6.25 percent to close at $N45, while Courtville Business Solutions shed six percent to close at $47 per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume of shares traded declined by 5.55 percent to 146.21 million shares worth N3.36 billion traded in 2,810 deals.