Investor interest in key stocks such as Dangote Cement, FBNHoldings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, GTCO, and Fidelity Bank, alongside other advancing equities, contributed to the market’s positive performance.

The market capitalisation increased by N53 billion, or 0.09 per cent rising from N62.257 trillion at the opening to N62.310 trillion at the close.

Similarly, the All-Share Index, ASI, advanced by 0.09 per cent, gaining 87.11 points to close at 102,183.06, compared to 102,095.95 reported on Wednesday.

This performance brought the Year-To-Date, YTD, return to 0.72 per cent.

However, in spite the gains, the market breadth closed negative, with 35 gainers against 26 losers.

On the losers’ chart, Livestock Feeds led by 60k to close at N5.40, Eunisell trailed by N1.73 to close at N15.63 per share.

Neimeth International Pharmaceutical and Regal Insurance lost 7k each to close at N3.12 and 68k per share respectively, while Honeywell Flour shed 94k to close at N9.21 per share.

Conversely, North Nigerian Flour Mill led the gainers table by N4.95 to close at N54.45, Dangote Sugar followed by N3.65 to close at N40.50 per share.

John Holt gained 83k to close at N9.30, The Initiate Plc added 25k to close at N2.80 and Omatek went up by 8k to close at 90k per share.

Trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 76.82 per cent.

A total of 472.16 million shares valued at N16.70 billion were exchanged in 12,336 deals, compared with 435.54 million shares valued at N9.44 billion traded in 12,098 deals, posted in the previous session.

Meanwhile, GTCO led the activity chart in volume and value with 65.05 million shares worth N3.77 billion.

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The Market Breadth, which is the measure of investors’ sentiment, was mixed as reflected in 28 losers and 28 gainers at the close of trading.

The gainer’s tables were led by Cadbury, Cornerstone Insurance, Meyer Plc, Daar Communications, and May & Baker, which gained 10 percent each to close at N22, N2.09, N4.73, N0.77, and N6.93.

However, on the losers’ table were Abbey Mortgage Bank, which lost 9.70 percent to close at N2.70; Livestock dipped by 9.66 percent to close trading at N1.87; Fidelity Bank lost 9.38 percent to close at N11.60, JAIZ Bank’s stock depreciated by 7.93 percent to close at N2.67 and MTN Nigeria lost 5.52 percent to close the day’s trading at N274 per unit.

The volume and value drivers of the day’s market trend were led by stocks of FBNHoldings, Nigerian Breweries, and Transcorp Plc.

FBNH emerged as the most traded security in terms of volume and value with 332.30 million units worth N8.95bn, changing hands in 767 deals.

Traded volume for the day was lower at 841.55 million units compared to the previous day’s volume of 943.51 million units. The units were valued at N19.32bn and traded in 13,674 deals.

The number of stocks traded stood at 124 at the close of trading.

Market Indices

NGX All-Share Index: 103,659.81 points

% Day Change: -0.73%

Day’s Lowest: 103,648.33 points

Day’s Highest: 104,964.59 points

% YTD: +38.63%

Market Cap: N56.72 trillion

Volume Traded: 841.55 million units

Value Traded: N19.33 billion

Top Gainers

CADBURY: +10.00% to close at N22.00

MAYBAKER: +10.00% to close at N6.93

MEYER: +10.00% to close at N4.73

CORNERST: +10.00% to close at N2.09

DAARCOMM: +10.00 to close at N0.77

SOVRENINS: +9.80% to close at N0.56

Top Losers

ABBEYBDS: -9.70% to close at N2.70

LIVESTOCK: -9.66% to close at N1.87

FIDELITYBK: -9.38% to close at N11.60

JAIZBANK: -7.93% to close at N2.67

MTNN: -5.52% to close at N274.00

TRANSCORP: -4.22% to close at N14.75

This reflects a 2.97% increase, equivalent to a gain of 2,848.85 points from yesterday’s (Monday) closing of 95,768.12 points.

The major movers in the market were BUA Cement, and Seplat Energy gained 10%, while   Dangote Cement, maintained its bullish run, gaining 9.99%.

The rally on the local equity market entered its ninth day,  bumping the market capitalization of the Nigerian Exchange to about N53.97tn.  At the end of trading, investors enjoyed a N1.56tn gain.

In terms of trading volume, there was a marginal appreciation of 3.56% to 747.51 million units, from yesterday’s 721.81 million units. TRANSCORP came top with an exchange of 77.71 million units, followed by STERLINGNG and UBA, which traded 72.31 million units and 52.69 million units, respectively.

Concerning value, there was a 12.95% appreciation to N16.28 billion, from yesterday’s N14.41 billion.   DANGCEM took the lead, reaching NGN 3.11 billion, closely followed by UBA and ACCESSCORP, recording NGN 1.58 billion and NGN 1.35 billion, respectively.

However, the Industrial, Oil & Gas, Consumer, and I.T/Communication sectors finished positively, gaining 8.29%, 7.71%, 2.29%, and 0.58%, respectively. On the other hand, the Insurance and Banking sectors experienced declines of -4.33% and – 3.26%, respectively.

Market Indices:

NGX All-Share Index: 98,616.97 points

% Day Change: +2.97%

Day’s Lowest: 95,732.95 points

Day’s Highest: 98,947.31 points

% YTD: +31.89%

Market Cap: N53.97 trillion

Volume Traded: 747.51 million units

Value Traded: N16.28 billion

Top Gainers 

SEPLAT: +10.00% to close at N2795.10

BUACEMENT: +10.00% to close at N163.35

DANGCEM: +9.99% to close at N651.80

ETERNA: +9.92% to close at N27.70

MEYER: +9.88% to close at N3.56

TRIPPLEG: +9.79% to close at N2.58

Top Losers

PZ: -10.00% to close at N31.50

MAYBAKER: -10.00% to close at N7.38

JOHNHOLT: -10.00% to close at N2.70

TIP: -10.00% to close at N2.52

DEAPCAP: -10.00% to close at N0.81

MBENEFIT: -10.00% to close at N0.72

Top Traded Stocks

In terms of volume, TRANSCORP (-9.99%) led with 77.71 million units, followed by STERLINGNG (-2.58%) with 72.31 million units, UBA (-3.07%) with 52.70 million units, ACCESSCORP (-1.54%) with 47.17 million units, and ZENITHBANK (-4.43%) with 32.03 million units.