By Chijioke Ohuocha
ABUJA, July 23 (Reuters) - Nigerian stocks climbed to a
three-week high on Thursday lifted by gains in its biggest
listed firm Dangote Cement, which announced a share buyback this
year.
The main share index .NGSEINDEX bucked four straight days
of losses to rise 1.4% to 24,512 points on Thursday.
Dangote Cement DANGCEM.LG , majority owned by Africa's
richest man Aliko Dangote, rose by 10% - the maximum allowed on
the bourse. MTN Nigeria MTNN.LG , the second-biggest listed
firm climbed 0.84%.
One fund manager said there was buying interest in Dangote
Cement because the stock was recovering from a six-week low.
He added that gains across the market were few because
investors were waiting for half-year results to determine the
extent of the damage inflicted by the novel coronavirus pandemic
on businesses.
MTN Nigeria, the local unit of South Africa's telecoms group
MTN MTNJ.J , on Thursday said it expects its profit margin to
fall by almost half a percentage point this year. A total of 11 firms advanced while 11 declined and more than
100 others recorded no trades.