Nigerian Exchange Nears N156trn, Investors Gain N3.3trn
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalisation surged near N1.56 trillion as investors’ portfolio balance gained about N3.3 trillion at the close of the trading session on Thursday.,
The local bourse closed positively, adding N3.266 trillion to investors’ equity portfolio balance amid the first-quarter earnings release by listed companies.
The positive performance was driven by continued demand for industrial, consumer, and energy stocks like Seplat Energy, Unilever, CAP, FTN Cocoa Processors, UAC of Nigeria and 41 other stocks.
Specifically, the market capitalisation, which opened at N152,728 trillion, added N3.266 trllion or 2.14 per cent to close at N155.994 trillion.
The All-Share Index also gained 2.14 per cent or 5,072.22 points, to settle at 242,277.81, against 237,205.59 recorded on Wednesday. As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return increased to 55.69 per cent.
The market breadth closed positive with 46 gainers and 42 losers. On the gainers’ chart, Seplat Energy, UAC of Nigeria, CAP, Unilever and FTN Cocoa Processors led by 10 per cent each, closing at N11,495, N181.50, N145.20, N137.50 and N5.50 per share respectively.
Conversely, Aluminium Extrusion Industry led the losers’ chart by 9.95 per cent, settling at N9.50, Royal Exchange followed by 9.93 per cent, finishing at N1.36 while Legend Internet lost by 9.32 per cent, ending the session at N5.35 per share.
Also, Austinlaz dropped by 9.12 per cent, closing at N3.39 and Neimeth Pharmaceuticals shed by 7.26 per cent, finishing at N8.30 per share.
Market activity closed on a positive note, as total volume traded surged by 40.33 per cent to 1.87 billion shares, valued at N104.29 billion across 92,353 deals.
Access Corporation led the activity chart by volume, with 934.96 million shares exchanged, representing 49.96 per cent of total trades.
Seplat topped the value chart with transactions worth N25.50 billion, accounting for 24.45 per cent of the day’s turnover. Federal Executive Council Approves $2.9bn Rail Projects
