By Ayomide Otitoju
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) added N257 billion in market capitalisation on Thursday, buoyed by renewed investor appetite for consumer goods and industrial stocks, particularly Nestle Nigeria, Honeywell Flour Mill, and Beta Glass.
At the close of trading, the market capitalisation climbed to N68.8 trillion, up from N68.54 trillion in the previous session. The All-Share Index (ASI) also advanced by 408.31 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 109,467.64 basis points.
Gains in blue-chip equities spurred the market rally, with Nestle Nigeria leading the gainers after appreciating by 10 per cent to close at N1,331.00 per share. Honeywell Flour Mill followed, also rising 10 per cent to N16.50, while Beta Glass gained 9.98 per cent to close at N213.70.
Other strong performers included NPF Microfinance Bank (+9.81%, N2.35) and Neimeth Pharmaceuticals (+9.77%, N3.37).
On the downside, Multiverse Mining & Exploration led the losers with a 9.64 per cent drop to N8.90. Wapic Insurance shed 4.74 per cent to N2.01, Lasaco Assurance fell 4.53 per cent to N2.32, while May & Baker Nigeria declined 3.82 per cent to N12.60.
Trading activity showed a mixed performance, as investors exchanged 729.88 million shares worth N13.88 billion in 14,743 deals—a 37 per cent increase in volume but a 30 per cent decline in turnover compared to the previous session.
FCMB Group topped the activity chart with 273 million shares traded, followed by Fidelity Bank (43.5 million), Caverton Offshore Support (35.1 million), and Aiico Insurance (33.9 million).
Sectoral indices ended positive, with the Consumer Goods Index posting the highest gain at 1.16 per cent. The Top 30 Index rose 0.39 per cent, Main Board Index advanced 0.49 per cent, Pension Index gained 0.29 per cent, Banking Index edged up 0.2 per cent, and the Industrial Index added 0.18 per cent.
