Lagos: The stock market continued its positive trend, with investors recording a N1.268 trillion gain on Thursday.
This uptrend was driven by increased interest in large- and mid-cap stocks such as Seplat Energy, Coronation Infrastructure Fund, Guinea Insurance, RT Briscoe, Neimeth International Pharmaceutical, and 50 other advancing stocks.
Market capitalisation rose from N107.861 trillion to N109.129 trillion, gaining N1.268 trillion or 1.18 per cent.
The All-Share Index increased by 1.18 per cent or 1,975.18 points, closing at 170,005.36 from 168,030.18 on Wednesday.
The Year-To-Date (YTD) closed at 9.25 per cent.
Market breadth remained robust, with 55 gainers outpacing 19 losers.
Seplat Energy, Coronation Infrastructure Fund and Guinea Insurance led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, finishing at N7,370, N110 and N1.43 per share, respectively.
RT Briscoe increased by 9.95 per cent, settling at N11.49, and Neimeth International Pharmaceutical grew by 9.90 per cent, closing at N11.10 per share.
On the flip side, Deap Capital Management led the losers’ chart by 9.62 per cent, settling at N6.20, Universal Insurance dropped by 9.43 per cent, finishing at N1.44, while Haldane McCall shed by 9.09 per cent, closing at N4 per share.
Red Star Express dipped by 9.04 per cent, finishing at N15.60, and UPDC declined by 7.02 per cent, ending the session at N5.30 per share.
A total of 712.9 million shares worth N22.3 billion were traded in 46,104 deals, against the previous session’s 694.8 million shares valued at N20.6 billion that were exchanged across 42,095 transactions.
This revealed a 3 per cent increase in volume, an 8 per cent increase in value, and a 10 per cent rise in deals.
Access Corporation recorded the highest volume, trading 106.63 million shares or 14.96 per cent of the day’s total.
Geregu recorded the highest value traded at N2.80 billion, accounting for 12.58 per cent of the day’s total.
Mr Seun Osomo, Executive Director of Vetiva Securities Ltd, said the equities market has seen renewed interest in the past week.
Osomo said this was driven by both foreign and domestic investors, with retail participants playing a significant role in shaping market direction.
According to him, the positive sentiment was largely driven by improving macroeconomic conditions and the strengthening of the Naira, which encouraged investors to focus more on local investments than on foreign currency assets.
He noted that equities had become more attractive as investors reassessed valuations and sought to benefit from dividends and other corporate actions that are now common.
Osomo observed that retail investors were especially active recently, a trend he expects to persist as market confidence holds.
