The bull run on the Nigerian stock market continued on Thursday, as the equities market recorded another positive session. The Nigerian Exchange’s All-Share Index (NGX ASI) gained 0.62% to close at 78,020.54 points.
Investors’ wealth rose by ₦265 billion, with the equities market capitalization growing to ₦42.694 trillion.
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Thursday’s gain makes it three days of gain out of three days of trading in 2024.
Activity level
The activity level improved as volume of shares traded, value of shares traded and the no of deals done all increased.
984.19 million shares representing a 6.10% increase from Wednesday’s volume were traded on Thursday. The value of shares traded amounted to N11.16 billion, 7.20% higher than the value traded in the preceding day.
The no of deals done was 9,841, also an increase of 11.58% on Wednesday’s figures.
Shares of Access Holdings Plc (NGX: ACCESSCORP), United Bank for Africa (NGX: UBA), and Zenith Bank Plc (NGX: ZENITHBANK) were once again the most traded by volume with 34.27 million, 29.98 million and 29.29 million shares respectively exchanging hands.
Shares of Fidelity Bank Plc (NGX: FIDELITYBK) , Zenith Bank Plc (NGX: ZENITHBANK) and FCMB Group Plc (NGX: FCMB) were the most traded by value, with their shares worth ₦1.30 billion, ₦1.18 billion and ₦0.957 billion respectively being traded on Thursday.
Top Gainers and Losers
Investor sentiment remained strong at 2.1x as 25 stocks advanced against 12 stocks that declined, albeit weaker than the 11.0x strength recorded in the preceding session.
The top five gainers on Thursday were;
- Learn Africa Plc (NGX: LEARNAFRCA): It gained 10% to close at ₦3.19.
- Wema Bank Plc (NGX: WEMABANK): It gained 10% to close at ₦7.26.
- Transnational Corporation Plc (NGX: TRANSCORP): It gained 10% to close at ₦1.65.
- Ikeja Hotel Plc (NGX: IKEJAHOTEL): It gained 9.92% to close at ₦7.98.
- Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc (NGX: STERLING): It gained 9.83% to close at ₦5.25.
The top five losers on Wednesday were;
- Multiverse Mining And Exploration Plc (NGX: MULTIVERSE): It lost 9.97% to close at ₦20.22.
- Meyer Plc (NGX: MEYER): It lost 9.75% to close at ₦3.80.
- Tripple Gee And Company Plc (NGX: TRIPPLEG): It lost 9.30% to close at ₦1.95.
- John Holt Plc (NGX: JOHNHOLT): It lost 8.62% to close at ₦2.12.
- Associated Bus Company Plc (NGX: ABCTRANS): It lost 8.25% to close at ₦0.89.
Four of the indices under our watch advanced on Thursday, with the Industrial Index closing marginally in the red.
- Banking Index: The index gained 0.13% to close at 955.00 points. Week to Date, the index has advanced by 6.44%.
- Industrial Index: The industrial index shed a marginal 0.10 point to close at 2,778.83 points. Week to Date, the index has advanced by 2.45%.
- Consumer Goods Index: The index advanced by 0.55% to settle at 1,158.87 points. Week to Date, the index has advanced by 3.35%.
- Oil & Gas Index: It advanced by 0.73% to close at 1,074.37 points. Week to Date, the index has advanced by 3.00%.
- Insurance Index: it gained by 2.62% to close at 351.53 points. Week to Date, the index has advanced by 9.29%.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur