Punch Newspapers
Sections
Published 11 March 2021
The nation’s bourse on Wednesday overcame its negative posture growing by N128bn following bargain buying in Dangote Cement and Nestle as well as news of approval of demutualisation, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.
Specifically, the market capitalisation rose by N128bn or 0.63 per cent to close at N20.37tn against N20.24tn recorded on Tuesday.
Similarly, the All-Share Index appreciated by 244.40 or 0.63 per cent to close at 38,931.25 from 38,686.85 achieved on Tuesday.
Consequently, the month-to-date and year-to-date losses moderated to 2.2 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively.
The market gain was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are Nestle, Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries, May & Baker and Africa Prudential.
By Kingsley Nwezeh
The ongoing trial of Mr. Abubakar Peters and his company, Nadabo Energy Limited, for an alleged N1.4 billion fraud before Justice C.A. Balogun of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, continued yesterday with the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, making history as the first chairman of the commission to give evidence in court.
An EFCC statement said Bawa, who testified as the fifth prosecution witness, PW5, had begun his examination-in-chief on June 3, 2015 long before his appointment as the EFCC chairman.
Before yesterday’s proceedings, Bawa had given evidence against the defendants, who pleaded “not guilty” to the alleged fraud.
Nigerian Stock Exchange
Completion of the 10 -year demutualisation project of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has opened a new vista, especially growth prospects in the bourse, as more people are likely to deepen investments and project the organisation more to the world.
The move, which would usher in the public listing of the exchange’s shares, was finalised yesterday following approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Demutualisation is the transformation of a stock exchange into a public company that is shareowner-based. It allows the shares of the bourse to be quoted on its floor.