By Chijioke Ohuocha
ABUJA, May 22 (Reuters) - Nigerian stocks rose 1.8% on
Friday in their fifth straight session of gains to record their
biggest weekly rise in one month.
Nigeria's all-share index .NGSEINDEX climbed to 25,204
points, reaching a 10-week high it had touched in the previous
session. Shares have extended gains throughout the week, boosted
by optimism early this week about the price of oil, the
country's big export earner.
But oil fell on Friday to below $35 a barrel as tensions
rose between the United States and China, and doubts grew about
the pace of demand recovery from the coronavirus
crisis. O/R
Nigerian shares slumped at the start of a
coronavirus-induced lockdown in early April. They fell 54% from
a January 2018 peak when the index topped 45,000 points.
A total of 29 companies rose on Friday, led by oil stocks
.NGSEOILG5 , while six were unchanged. Fifteen stocks declined
and 100 others recorded no trades.
Mobil MOBIL.LG and Conoil CONOIL.LG were the strongest
performers, climbing more than 9.9% each. BUA Cement
BUACEMENT.LG , was up 9.5%, notching up further gains after the
company announced a dividend payment.
An exchange traded fund (ETF) STANBIC.LG managed by
Stanbic IBTC Bank, the Nigerian unit of Standard Bank, rose
9.1%.