Equities Market Sheds Bearish Trend, Gains N3.24trn
ASI rises 2.10% as buying interest in large and mid-cap stocks drives recovery
The equities market has reversed its bearish trend on Friday, closing the week on a positive note with investors gaining N3.236 trillion.
The renewed buying interest in large- and mid-capitalised stocks pushed the market into positive territory.
The stocks included Dangote Cement Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Mecure Industries Plc, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank Plc and 40 others.
Market capitalisation rose by 2.10 per cent, or N3.236 trillion, to close at N157.094 trillion, compared with N153.858 trillion recorded on Thursday.
Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 5,041.22 points, or 2.10 per cent, to settle at 244,775.83, up from 239,734.61 posted in the previous trading session.
This led the Year-to-Date return to 57.30 per cent while market breadth closed positive as well, recording 45 gainers against 31 losers.
Dangote Cement, Cadbury, Mecure, Neimeth, and Livingtrust Mortgage led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, settling at N1,088, N72.60, N72.60, N9.90, and N3.52 per share, respectively.
Conversely, UACN and Industrial and Medical Gases led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each, finishing at N171 and N42.30 per share, respectively.
Also, Eterna fell by 9.93 per cent, closing at N33.55, Learn Africa dipped by 9.89 per cent, ending the session at N8.20, and Deap Capital Management shed 9.69 per cent, settling at N5.50 per share.
Market activity declined for the day, as total volume traded fell by 36.89 per cent to 1.16 billion shares valued at N59.80 billion in 72,733 deals.
Access Corporation emerged as the most traded stock by volume, with 104.43 million shares exchanged, accounting for 9.04 per cent of the day’s total volume.
MTN Nigeria led in value terms with transactions worth N7.39 billion, representing 12.35 per cent of the total value traded.
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