The Nigerian stock market closed the week on a bullish note, recording a gain of N618 billion on Friday, driven by sustained interest in medium and large-capitalised equities.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) showed that market capitalisation rose by 0.7 per cent to N89.96 trillion, from N89.34 trillion on Thursday. Similarly, the All-Share Index advanced by 983.99 points or 0.7 per cent to settle at 142,133.03 points, compared to 141,149.04 points recorded in the previous session.
Market breadth closed positive with 36 gainers against 23 losers, underscoring broad-based investor appetite.
Thomas Wyatt Nigeria led the gainers’ chart with a 10 per cent rise to N3.30 per share, followed by The Initiates Plc and Eunisell Interlinked, which advanced by 9.98 per cent each to close at N13.22 and N33.60 respectively. FTN Cocoa Processors appreciated by 9.96 per cent to N5.96, while Omatek Ventures rose by 8.57 per cent to N1.14.
On the flip side, Fidelity Bank led the losers’ table, shedding 10 per cent to close at N18.45. Custodian Investment dropped by 8.90 per cent to N44, while Cutix Plc fell by 8.31 per cent to N3.20. Daar Communications lost 7.02 per cent to end at N1.06, and Union Dicon Salt declined by 5.26 per cent to N9.00.
Market activity, however, showed a slowdown in value and volume, though the number of deals improved. A total of 518.7 million shares valued at N18.05 billion were exchanged in 22,350 deals, compared to 5.5 billion shares worth N419.7 billion traded in 20,399 deals the previous day.
Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with 50.03 million shares worth N340.2 million. Zenith Bank followed with 38.97 million shares valued at N2.7 billion, while Stanbic IBTC recorded 38.95 million shares worth N4.2 billion. FCMB traded 32.3 million shares worth N347.8 million, and Sovereign Trust Insurance exchanged 27.3 million shares valued at N84.1 million.
