At the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday, the bulls maintained a firm grip as the benchmark index surged by 2.04 percent to reach a new high of 91,896.97 points, breaching the psychological 91,000 mark.
Consequently, the market capitalization of listed equities experienced a parallel upswing of 2.04 percent, crossing the significant N50 trillion threshold.
Notably, equity investors amassed gains totaling N1.01 trillion during Thursday’s trading session.
This uptick contributed to a substantial year-to-date return of 22.90 percent.
This notable upswing was attributed to robust investor interest spanning various stocks within the Industrial, Oil & Gas, and Consumer Goods indexes.
However, despite the market’s overall positive trajectory, the distribution exhibited a less favourable trend, as the market breathe recorded 33 gainers in contrast to 42 laggards.
On the performance board, Ikeja Hotel and Royal Exchange topped the losers’ list having dipped in share value by 9.8 percent, respectively; while Conoil and Eterna recorded the most significant gains of the day after their respective share prices appreciated by 10.0 percent.
On the sectoral front, a mixed sentiment prevailed, with the banking and insurance indexes shedding 1.89 percent and 2.11 percent, respectively.
Conversely, the Consumer Goods, Oil & Gas, and Industrial Goods indexes emerged as advancing sectors, gaining 0.87 percent, 2.69 percent and 7.83 percent, respectively.
Analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session. Traded volume experienced a 12.16 percent decrease, amounting to 1.14 billion units. Meanwhile, the total traded value saw a substantial 17.78 percent increase, totaling N19.29 billion. Total deals increased by 1.91 percent, reaching 17,804 trades.
As the trading session concluded, Transnational Corporation took the spotlight as the most traded security by both volume and value, with 156.62 million units traded in 1,846 trades and a total value of N2.96 billion.