The Nigerian equities market on Thursday sustained its upward trend as investors recorded a gain of N308 billion.
Specifically, the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market capitalisation, which opened at N92.490 trillion, appreciated by N308 billion or 0.33 per cent to close at N92.798 trillion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index added 0.33 per cent or 485.25 points to close at 146,204.34, compared with 145,719.09 recorded on Wednesday.
Sustained interest in Eunisell Interlinked, Caverton Offshore Support Group, Sunu Assurances, Industrial and Medical Gases, Mecure, and 27 other advancing stocks boosted market performance.
The market breadth also closed positive with 32 gainers and 21 losers.
Eunisell Interlinked and Caverton Offshore Support Group led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, closing at N44 and N6.93 per share respectively.
Sunu Assurances appreciated by 9.90 per cent to close at N5.77, while Industrial and Medical Gases rose by 9.10 per cent to finish at N35.95 per share. Mecure also gained 8.81 per cent, ending the session at N28.40 per share.
Conversely, FTN Cocoa Processors led the losers’ table by 6.67 per cent, closing at N5.60 per share. Tantalizer followed with a 3.35 per cent decline to close at N2.31, while Fidelity Bank shed 2.38 per cent to finish at N20.50 per share.
PZ Cussons also dipped by 2.18 per cent to close at N38.15, while Veritas Kapital Assurance fell by 1.90 per cent to end at N2.06 per share.
Market activity showed a decline in the number of deals and volume traded, but an improvement in trade value. A total of 346.99 million shares worth N27.43 billion were traded in 24,691 deals, compared with 525.72 million shares worth N13.61 billion exchanged in 25,597 deals on Wednesday.
Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 42.01 million shares valued at N861.54 million. Dangote Cement followed with 20.9 million shares worth N11 billion, while Sterling Nigeria traded 19.8 million shares valued at N162.9 million. Jaiz Bank transacted 19.5 million shares worth N85.27 million, and CHAMS traded 17.69 million shares valued at N76.9 million.
