Lagos: Nigerian stock market opened the week on a positive note, as market capitalisation rose by 0.44 per cent to N140.435 trillion from N139.826 trillion, reflecting a gain of N609 billion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index advanced by 946.27 points, or 0.44 per cent, increasing from 217,167.57 to 218,113.84.
The upbeat performance was driven by gains in mid- and large-cap stocks, including Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, Union Dicon Salt, Fidelity Bank, Trans-Nationwide Express, Access Corporation, and 31 others.
Banking stocks significantly drove market performance.
While the Year-to-Date return rose to 40.16 per cent, the market breadth also closed positive with 36 gainers and 35 losers.
The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company and Union Dicon Salt led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, settling at N242 and N18.15 per share, respectively.
Also, Fidelity Bank added 9.98 per cent, closing at N22.05; Trans-Nationwide Express increased 9.92 per cent, finishing at N6.65; and Access Corporation gained 9.87 per cent, closing at N32.85 per share.
Conversely, Stanbic IBTC and Livingtrust Mortgage Bank topped the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each, ending the session at N169.70 and N3.69 per share, respectively.
Similarly, Transcorp Power lost 9.97 per cent, finishing at N272.70; Abbey Mortgage Bank dropped 9.88 per cent, closing at N7.30; and Guinea Insurance dipped 8.80 per cent, settling at N1.14 per share.
A total of 983.9 million shares worth N50.8 billion were traded across 76,410 transactions, compared to 1.3 billion shares valued at N54.4 billion that were traded earlier on Friday across 56,923 deals.
Analysis of the above revealed that market activity declined by 21.79 per cent.
Access Corporation recorded the highest volume with 91.65 million shares traded, accounting for 9.31 per cent of the day’s volume.
Zenith Bank recorded the highest value, at N7 billion, accounting for 13.80 per cent of the day’s traded value.
Analysing the market, Mr David Adonri, Vice President of Highcap Securities, said the equities rally was largely driven by strong performance in the banking sector.
He noted that significant buying interest was recorded in mid-tier banks such as Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, and Sterling Bank, which saw heightened investor demand.
Adonri added that United Bank for Africa (UBA), which had traded below N50 for a prolonged period, rebounded strongly during the session, crossing the N50 level.
According to him, the banking sector posted a highly bullish performance and played a decisive role in driving the overall market.
“The banks were extremely bullish, and they moved the market today,” he said.