Lagos: Nigeria’s stock market closed the week N962 billion richer Friday, powered by a bullish rally led by Guinness and UPL.
Sustained investor interest in Guinness, University Press, Royal Exchange, May & Baker, Fortis Global Insurance, and about 30 other equities fueled the surge.
Market capitalisation climbed from N126.398 trillion to N127.360 trillion, registering a 0.76 per cent gain, or N962 billion in new investor wealth.
The All-Share Index (ASI) also rose by 0.76 per cent, or 1,498.54 points, to close at 198,407.30, up from 196,908.76 in the previous session.
The Year-to-Date (YTD) return improved to 27.50 per cent, reflecting sustained investor confidence in local equities, while market breadth closed positively, with 35 gainers and 20 losers.
Guinness, University Press, and Royal Exchange each gained 10 per cent, closing at N385, N5.50, and N1.87 per share respectively.
May & Baker rose 9.93 per cent to N41.50, while Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.26 per cent to close at N1.18 per share.
RT Briscoe led the losers, dropping 9.17 per cent to close at N10.40.
Learn Africa fell 8.33 per cent to N8.25, and NGX Group declined 6.12 per cent to N176.50 per share.
Haldane McCall slid 5.78 per cent to N3.91, while AXA Mansard Insurance dropped 5.63 per cent to N14.91 per share.
Market activity was up for the day, with total volume traded rising 7.51 per cent to 591.04 million shares, valued at N35 billion across 53,066 transactions.
While Firstholdco recorded the highest volume with 70.83 million traded shares, accounting for 11.98 per cent of the day’s total volume, MTN Nigeria recorded the highest value with N6.68 billion in traded shares, accounting for 19.09 per cent of the day’s total value.