Equities Market soars, investors gain N520bn in one day

By Taiye Olayemi

The Nigerian equities market staged a strong rebound on Thursday, reversing three consecutive sessions of losses with a remarkable N520 billion gain.

The recovery was buoyed by renewed investor appetite for select stocks, particularly Ellah Lakes, Veritas Kapital, Honeywell Flour Mill, AXA Mansard, Royal Exchange and 36 other equities that recorded price appreciations.

As a result, the market capitalisation of listed companies rose by 0.6 per cent, climbing from N87.416 trillion to N87.936 trillion. The All-Share Index (ASI) also advanced by 822.85 points, or 0.6 per cent, to close at 138,980.01 compared to 138,157.16 in the previous session.

Market breadth reflected the bullish sentiment, closing with 41 gainers against 14 losers. Ellah Lakes and Veritas Kapital led the chart with 10 per cent gains each, closing at N12.98 and N1.98 per share respectively. Honeywell Flour Mill appreciated by 9.95 per cent to N23.20, while AXA Mansard and Royal Exchange both advanced 9.94 per cent to close at N15.82 and N1.88 per share.

On the flip side, Austin Laz topped the losers’ list with a 9.75 per cent decline to N2.87 per share. Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals shed 8.33 per cent to N6.05, while DAAR Communications, Champion Breweries and Unilever Nigeria also recorded losses of 4.44 per cent, 4.15 per cent and 4.11 per cent respectively.

Trading activity showed a surge in volume but lower value and fewer deals. Investors exchanged 1.82 billion shares worth N15.9 billion in 24,612 transactions, compared with Wednesday’s 482.8 million shares valued at N19.7 billion across 28,193 deals.

Sovereign Trust Insurance dominated activity by volume, trading 1.4 billion shares worth N4.2 billion. Nigerian Breweries followed with 41.2 million shares valued at N2.8 billion, while Fidelity Bank accounted for 30.56 million shares worth N642.1 million. Zenith Bank recorded 26.4 million shares worth N1.7 billion, and Universal Insurance transacted 24.2 million shares valued at N28.2 million.

Analysts say the rebound signals renewed investor confidence, but sustained momentum will depend on macroeconomic stability and corporate earnings outlook.