Nigeria’s equities market closed higher on Friday, adding N384 billion in value as sustained investor appetite for medium and large-cap stocks lifted market performance.
Market capitalisation advanced by 0.42 per cent to N91.135 trillion from N90.751 trillion, while the All-Share Index gained 604.58 points to settle at 143,584.04. The market breadth remained positive, with more gainers than losers.
UAC of Nigeria, Nigeria Enamelware, and Ellah Lakes were among the strongest performers, while Julius Berger and John Holt led the decliners.
Despite the uptrend in prices, market activity weakened compared with the previous session. Investors exchanged 544.7 million shares worth N19.63 billion in 27,065 deals, a decline from Thursday’s 6.23 billion shares valued at N54.5 billion across 32,682 deals.
UBA led trading by volume with over 80 million shares, followed by Access Corporation, GTCO, and Zenith Bank.
Analysts say the sustained rally reflects renewed interest in fundamentally strong stocks, even as overall activity levels point to cautious positioning by investors.
