Here is the market report for the week ended May 1st, 2009:

Nigerian equities traded mixed on the stock exchange for the week with the bears and bulls evenly matched. The market benchmark opened the week on a poor note dropping .02% to
halt its run of gains from last week. In subsequent sessions, the index closed on Tuesday .05% higher, shed .50% on Wednesday and closed the week’s session with a .65% appreciation. Despite the losses, the NSE all share index managed to close the week higher 35.19 points, a gain of .16% to close at 21,491.11. This performance brings Year to date performance
to 31.67%.

Blue chip stocks were the major movers with the likes of NESTLE, GURANTY and UBA leading the way. Also, volumes were up from the previous week by 18.76% with an average of 390 million shares exchanging hands each day compared to 262 million the previous week. On the transaction side, total shares traded were worth N11.5 billion against N8.37 billion in the previous week. Volatility and Liquidity measures show an improvement in the level of confidence in the market as investors continue to show cautious optimism.