Some highly capitalised stocks on Wednesday posted price appreciation on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with the market capitalisation improving by N126 billion.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mobil Oil led the gainers’ table, gaining N13.50 to close at N192 per share.

Dangote Cement followed with a gain of N5 to close at N260, while International Breweries garnered N2.50 to close at N54 per share.

Lafarge Africa appreciated by N1.25 to close at N43.65, while Unilever increased by 80k to close at N53.90 per share.

Consequently, the market capitalisation rose by 0.86 per cent or N126 billion to close at N14.754 trillion compared to N14.628 trillion on Tuesday.

In the same vein, the All-Share Index which opened at 40,499.04, inched 347.20 points or 0.86 per cent to close at 40,846.24.

Conversely, Betaglass topped the losers’ chart, shedding N3.75 to close at N71.95 per share.

Forte Oil trailed with a loss of N1.10 to close at N37.50, while PZ declined by 45k to close at N23 per share.

RedStar Express dropped by 30k to close at N5.70, while Dangote Flour shed 30k to close at N13.15 per share.

The banking subsector maintained its leadership as investors delights with Zenith International Bank emerging the most traded, with 100.63 million shares worth N2.65 billion.

Skye Bank followed with an account of 43.02 million shares valued at N27.94 million, while Access Bank traded 23.95 million shares worth N283.20 million.

Guaranty Trust Bank sold 21.14 million shares valued at N908.69 million, while United Bank for Africa traded 19.76 million shares worth N215.63 million.

In all, the volume of shares exchanged closed lower with a turnover of 367.22 million shares valued at N5.33 billion achieved in 4,462 deals.

NAN reports that this was against the 388.28 million shares worth N4.21 billion traded in 4,222 deals on Tuesday.