By Ayomide Otitoju
The Nigerian equity market bounced back on Thursday, gaining N53 billion after the previous session’s loss, driven by renewed investor interest in major stocks, including Dangote Cement, FBN Holdings, GTCO, and Fidelity Bank.
Market Performance
Market capitalization rose by 0.09%, increasing from N62.257 trillion to N62.310 trillion at the close of trading. Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 87.11 points, closing at 102,183.06, up from 102,095.95 recorded on Wednesday. The Year-To-Date (YTD) return now stands at 0.72%.
Despite the overall gains, market breadth ended negative, with 35 gainers outpaced by 26 losers.
Top Losers
Livestock Feeds led the losers, dropping 60k to close at N5.40.
Eunisell fell by N1.73, ending at N15.63 per share.
Neimeth International Pharmaceutical and Regal Insurance declined by 7k each to close at N3.12 and 68k, respectively.
Honeywell Flour shed 94k, closing at N9.21.
Top Gainers
Northern Nigerian Flour Mill topped the gainers’ chart, rising by N4.95 to close at N54.45.
Dangote Sugar followed with a N3.65 gain, closing at N40.50.
John Holt added 83k, finishing at N9.30, while The Initiate Plc and Omatek gained 25k and 8k, respectively, to close at N2.80 and 90k per share.
Trading Activity
Trade turnover surged by 76.82%, with 472.16 million shares worth N16.70 billion exchanged in 12,336 deals, compared to 435.54 million shares valued at N9.44 billion from the prior session.
GTCO led the activity chart in both volume and value, trading 65.05 million shares worth N3.77 billion.
The market’s positive close reflects growing investor confidence, with major stocks fueling a modest recovery after the previous day’s decline.
