By Taiye Olayemi

The Nigerian stock market continued its upward trend with a gain of N1.74 trillion on Tuesday.

Market capitalisation rose by N1.74 trillion or 2.03 per cent, closing at N87.191 trillion when compared to N85.455 trillion recorded on Monday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) climbed by 2,746.36 points or 2.03 per cent to reach 137,912.87 as against 135,166.51 earlier recorded.

The upward trend was driven by strong buying interest in medium and large-capitalised stocks like: Berger Paints, Learn Africa, MTN Nigeria, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria, Halldane McCall and 46 other stocks.

Also, the market breadth closed positive with 51 gainers and 25 losers.

Berger Paints led the gainers’ chart, increasing by 10 per cent, ending the session at N34.10, while Learn Africa also gained by 10 per cent, closing at N6.93 per share.

Thomas Wyatt Nigeria grew by 10 per cent, finishing at N3.19 and Halldane McCall rose by 10 per cent, settling at N4.73 per share.

Similarly, MTN Nigeria soared by 9.99 per cent, closing at N451.60 per share.

On the flip side, Abbey Mortgage Bank declined by 10 per cent, settling at N7.20 per share while Northern Nigeria Flour Mills also dropped by 10 per cent, closing at N93.15 per share.

Vitafoam Nigeria shed by 9.96 per cent, finishing at N79.10 and Industrial and Medical Gases lost by 9.93 per cent, ending the session at N37.65 per share.

International Breweries fell by 7.10 per cent, closing at N15.05 per share.

A total of 940.80 million shares worth N30.63 billion were traded across 28,358 transactions.

This is compared to 795.59 million shares worth N23.2 billion that was exchanged across 37,626 transactions earlier.

Transactions in the shares of Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 111.27 million shares worth N2.33 billion.

Royal Exchange followed with 74.07 million shares valued at N110.8 million while Jaiz Bank transacted 60.86 million shares worth N238.19 million.

While Universal Insurance sold 38.28 million shares valued at N28.8 million, Access Corporation traded 36.81 million shares worth N1 billion. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa