Nigeria’s equities market rebounded strongly on Friday as investors gained N3.16 trillion, driven by renewed buying interest in banking, telecommunications and oil and gas stocks.
Nigeria’s equities market closed on a strong note on Friday, with investors recording a N3.156 trillion gain as renewed buying interest in banking, telecommunications and oil and gas stocks lifted market performance.
The bullish session pushed the market capitalisation to N147.102 trillion, up from N143.946 trillion, representing a 2.19 per cent increase.
The benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) also advanced by 4,918.37 points, or 2.19 per cent, rising from 224,321.97 to 229,240.34.
The positive performance improved the market’s Year-to-Date (YTD) return to 47.31 per cent, while market breadth remained positive with 39 gainers against 14 losers.
Leading the gainers’ chart were Airtel Africa, The Initiates, Omatek Ventures, Daar Communications and Universal Insurance, with each stock appreciating by 10 per cent.
The companies closed the trading session at N5,274, N25.85, N1.76, N1.65 and 88 kobo per share, respectively.
On the losers’ table, International Energy Insurance recorded the steepest decline, shedding 9.96 per cent to close at N4.70 per share.
Meyer followed with a 9.95 per cent loss to settle at N18.55, while Fortis Global Insurance declined by 9.80 per cent to N3.22 per share.
Other decliners included Sovereign Trust Insurance, which fell 5.34 per cent to N1.95, and Veritas Kapital Assurance, which lost 5.07 per cent to close at N1.31 per share.
Despite the strong price performance, overall market activity slowed during the session.
Trading volume dropped by 46.82 per cent to 454.92 million shares, valued at N27.61 billion, exchanged in 48,214 deals.
Zenith Bank emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume, accounting for 49.78 million shares, representing 10.94 per cent of the total shares traded.
The bank also led the market by value, recording transactions worth N5.16 billion, equivalent to 18.70 per cent of the total value traded during the session.
Visit GMTNewsng for more news stories.
