The Nigerian equities market on Thursday extended its bullish run to the seventh consecutive trading session as price uptick in Okomu Oil Plc and 69 others nudged the overall capitalization up by N1.76 trillion.
The All-Share Index (ASI) gained by 2,457.13 points, representing a growth of 2.01 per cent to close at 124,446.80 points. Also, market capitalisation rose by N1.76 trillion to close at N78.726 trillion, largely driven by the additional listing of 2.29 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each from Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Okomu Oil, MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), CAP, Nigerian Exchange Group and Nigerian Breweries.
Market breadth remained strongly positive, with 70 stocks advancing against just 10 decliners, signaling widespread bullish sentiment across sectors. FTN Cocoa Processors, UPDC, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Consolidated Hallmark Holdings, Haldane McCall and Caverton Offshore Support Group recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N6.82, N4.62, N39.60, N3.30, N4.73 and N8.36 respectively, per share.
Red Star Express followed with a gain of 9.99 per cent to close at N12.22, while ABC Transports up by 9.97 per cent to close at N4.30, per share.
On the other hand, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals led the losers’ chart by 9.91 per cent to close at N9.00, per share. Legend Internet followed with a decline of 9.88 per cent to close at N7.21, while Industrial & Medical Gases Nigeria declined by 7.36 per cent to close at N34.00, per share.
Cadbury Nigeria depreciated by 6.22 per cent to close at N55.00, while Livestock Feeds declined by 5.67 per cent to close at N9.15, per share.
Also, the total volume traded rose by 44.1 per cent to 1.280 billion units, valued at N27.727 billion, and exchanged in 27,875 deals. Transactions in the shares of Access Holdings topped the activity chart with 174.220 million shares valued at N3.985 billion. AIICO Insurance followed with 81.960 million shares worth N165.014 million, while Japaul Gold & Ventures traded 74.017 million shares valued at N245.203 million.
UBA traded 64.506 million shares valued at N2.520 billion, while FCMB Group sold 63.303 million shares worth N585.747 million.
On market outlook, Afrinvest Limited said, “on the back of unmet bids at the last primary market auction vis-à-vis broad-based moderation in yields across offers, we anticipate the bourse to stay bullish in tomorrow’s trading session, as traders rotate into equities.”
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