Equity Market celebrates N157 billion profit, All-Share Index hits new heights

By Rukayat Adeyemi

The Nigerian equity market closed the week on a high note on Friday, with investors reaping gains of N157 billion.

Specifically, the Nigeria Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market capitalisation opened at N60.104 trillion and rose by N157 billion, or 0.26%, to close at N60.261 trillion.

The All-Share Index also increased by 0.26%, or 259 points, closing at 99,448.91, compared to 99,189.95 reported on Thursday. Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return climbed to 33%.

The equity market was buoyed by demand for stocks such as Aradel Holdings, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Stanbic IBTC, FCMB, and Unilever, among others. Market breadth also remained positive, with 40 gainers and 14 losers.

On the gainers’ table, CAP Plc and Livestock Feed led with a 10% increase each, closing at N38.50 and N3.41 per share, respectively.

Eunisell Ltd. rose by 9.72% to close at N3.50, while May & Baker gained 9.56% to close at N7.45. Royal Exchange increased by 9.23%, closing at 71 kobo per share.

On the losers’ side, Daar Communications led with a 9.86% decline, closing at 64 kobo, followed by McNichols, which fell by 5.10% to close at N1.49 per share. FTN Cocoa Processors decreased by 4.76% to close at N1.80, Fidelity Bank dropped 2.72% to close at N14.30, while Chams shed 2.44% to close at N2 per share.

Analysis of equity market activities indicated a decrease in trade turnover compared to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 39.38%. A total of 460.86 million shares valued at N9.53 billion were exchanged in 8,772 deals, compared to 400.91 million shares valued at N15.72 billion traded in 9,211 deals during the last session.

Chams led the activity chart in volume with 97.66 million shares, while UBA led in transaction value, amounting to N2.61 billion going into the weekend and to resume on Monday.