The all-share index inched up to 39,396.57 points, racking up 64.96 index points.

Nigerian stocks found the rebound on Monday with a 0.17 per cent rise as renewed investors' interest in WAPCO, FBN Holdings and Access provided the much-needed succour for a market long beset by perennial plunges in equity value.

The gain, although little, was better than nothing considering the enormity of the damage wrought on the market by the losses seen in the last four trading sessions, raising fears that investors may need to approach the rest of the week with cautious optimism.

Helping gains, the oil and gas index grew by 1.01 per cent on appreciation in the shares of Ardova and Oando, making it the best mover of the five sectorial indices monitored by the Nigerian bourse.

The market posted a positive breadth as 25 gainers emerged relative to 15 losers.

The all-share index inched up to 39,396.57 points, racking up 64.96 index points. In the same vein, market capitalisation advanced N33.992 billion to N20.612 trillion.

Year to date, the index is down by 2.17 per cent.

TOP FIVE GAINERS

Linkage Assurance top gainers, trading up 10 per cent to close at N0.55. Ardova gained 10 per cent to close at N14.85. Champion Breweries rose by 9.52 per cent to N1.84. Oando leapt to N2.90, notching up 9.43 per cent in the process. Cornerstone completed the top 5, climbing up by 9.09 per cent to N0.60.

TOP FIVE LOSERS

UCAP topped the losers' table, declining by 16.08 per cent to close at N4.80 after price adjustment for the dividend payout. Meyer shrank by 10 per cent to end trade at N0.45. Lasaco tumbled to N2.01, losing 9.87 per cent. SCOA dipped to N2.38, recording 9.85 per cent loss. Ikeja Hotel closed at N1.05, going down by 9.48 per cent.

TOP 5 TRADES

297.270 million shares worth N3.154 billion were traded on the NSE in 4,655 deals.

Zenith was the most preferred stock with 66.496 million units of its stocks worth N1.670 billion traded in 998 deals. 23.478 million units of FBN Holdings shares priced at N169.455 million exchanged hands in 181 transactions. Mansard had 21.365 million shares valued at N20.918 million traded in 103 deals. Guinea Insurance traded 20.185 million shares estimated at N4.037 million in 5 transactions. UCAP traded 13.596 million shares valued at N64.134 million in 257 deals.

Copyright Premium Times. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)., source News Service English