Equities market closes week with N405bn gain as ASI hits 246,992.44
By Aboki Forex —
The equities market ended the week on a positive note, with investors gaining N405 billion on Friday. Market capitalisation rose to N159.558 trillion from N159.153 trillion, up 0.25 per cent.
The All-Share Index climbed by 604.22 points, or 0.25 per cent, to close at 246,992.44, compared with 246,388.22 at the previous session on Thursday. The sustained rally lifted the year-to-date return to 58.72 per cent.
Market breadth closes negative
Despite the overall gain, the market breadth closed negative, with 31 losers against 26 gainers. Red Star Express and Haldane McCall led the losers chart, dropping 10 per cent each to close at N13.95 and N3.60 per share respectively.
Abbey Mortgage Bank and Royal Exchange also fell by 10 per cent each, closing at N7.70 and N1.10 per share. Nigerian Breweries lost 9.93 per cent to finish at N82.45, while John Holt declined by 9.89 per cent to settle at N10. Daar Communications dipped by 9.68 per cent, ending at N1.70 per share.
On the gainers side, Industrial and Medical Gases rose by 9.97 per cent to close at N30.70. Juli climbed 9.66 per cent to settle at N6.55, while University Press gained 9.09 per cent to finish at N5 per share.
Trading activity surges
Market activity strengthened sharply during the session. Total volume traded rose by 416.66 per cent to 2.24 billion shares, valued at N73.41 billion across 42,709 deals.
Fortis Global Insurance led trading volume with 1.45 billion shares, representing 64.85 per cent of the day's total volume. Seplat Energy recorded the highest transaction value at N32.24 billion, accounting for 43.91 per cent of the total value traded.
The week's close extends the ongoing bullish run on the Nigerian Exchange. With year-to-date returns above 58 per cent, investors are seeing sustained value gains despite pockets of profit-taking on specific counters.