Equities market extends bullish run as investors gain N307.99bn

The Nigerian equities market sustained its bullish momentum on Thursday, as renewed investor interest in key industrial and banking stocks lifted the benchmark index. 

The NGX All-Share Index, ASI, advanced by 0.33 percent to close at 146,204.33 points, pushing the year-to-date return to 42.05 percent, up from 41.58 percent in the previous session.

Similarly, market capitalization rose by N307.99 billion to settle at N92.80 trillion, reflecting sustained investor confidence in the market’s fundamentals and optimism ahead of third-quarter earnings releases.

The day’s positive outing was largely driven by gains in Dangote Cement, up 1.89 percent; GTCO, up 1.06 percent; Zenith Bank, up 0.29 percent; and WAPCO, up 0.70 percent, which outweighed losses in UBA, down 0.35 percent; Access Holdings, down 0.76 percent; and Fidelity Bank, down 2.38 percent.

Market sentiment remained positive, as 32 gainers outpaced 21 decliners, resulting in a market breadth of 1.5 times. Caverton gained 10 percent to lead the top gainers, followed by Eunisell, SunuAssur, IMG, and Mecure, while FTN Cocoa, which dipped 6.67 percent, led the losers alongside Tantalizer, Fidelity Bank, PZ, and VeritasKap.

Across sectors, performance was largely upbeat. The Industrial Goods Index rose 0.67 percent to lead the charge, followed by Insurance, which gained 0.64 percent; Consumer Goods, which appreciated 0.43 percent; and Banking, which increased 0.26 percent, while the Oil & Gas Index closed flat.

Trading activity, however, was mixed. The total volume of shares traded dropped 34 percent to 346.99 million units, even as the value of transactions surged 101.47 percent to N27.43 billion. The number of deals also declined slightly by 3.54 percent to 24,691, indicating that larger-value transactions dominated the session.

Fidelity Bank recorded the highest trading volume with 42.01 million units, while Dangote Cement, which gained 1.89 percent, led the value chart with trades worth N11 billion.

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