The equity market continued its positive trend on Thursday, with investors’ net worth appreciating by N265 billion due to bargain hunting. The upbeat performance stemmed from investors’ buying interest in Tier-one banks’ stocks.
Market capitalization rose by N265 billion or 0.62 per cent, closing at N42.694 trillion compared to Wednesday’s N42.429 trillion. Consequently, the All-Share Index, the benchmark, increased by 0.62 per cent or 482.97 points, ending at 78,020.54 from the previous session’s 77,537.57. The Year-to-Date (YTD) return rose to 4.34 per cent.
A total of 984.19 million shares valued at N11.16 billion were traded in 12,976 deals. Market breadth closed positively, with trade turnover settling higher relative to the previous session.
The improved performance was driven by investors’ interest in Tier-one banks such as Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), and Dangote Sugar.
FCMB led the volume chart with 106.81 million units traded, while Fidelity Bank topped the value chart with deals worth N1.31 billion.
On the gainers’ table, Wema Bank and LearnAfrica each gained 10 per cent to close at N6.71 and N3.19 per share, respectively. Transcorp followed with a 9.93 per cent gain, closing at N11.51 per share. Ikeja Hotel also rose by 9.92 per cent to N7.58, while Sterling Nigeria increased by 9.83 per cent, closing at N5.25 per share.
Multiverse Mining and Exploration led the losers’ table with a 9.97 per cent loss, closing at N20.22 per share. It was followed by Meyer, which lost 9.75 per cent to close at N3.24 per share. TrippleG depreciated by 9.30 per cent to close at N1.95, while Johnholt lost 8.62 per cent, closing at N2.12 per share. Also, ABC Transport was down by 8.25 per cent, closing at 89k per share.
Analysts at Vetiva Securities Ltd. stated, “We expect a positive close to the week, while the focus remains on the Tier-two banks.”
(NAN)
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