Lagos: The Nigerian stock market extended its impressive rally on Friday, adding N344 billion in market capitalisation as investor confidence surged and key equities notched strong gains.
Building on this momentum, the market’s upward movement was driven by gains in equities such as Aluminium Extrusion Industry, Daar Communications, RT Briscoe, Learn Africa, Red Star Express, and 25 other stocks.
The market capitalisation grew by 0.22 per cent, adding N344 billion to investors’ portfolios as the market opened at N159.733 trillion and closed higher at N160.077 trillion.
Similarly, in line with the market capitalisation increase, the All-Share Index (ASI) also rose by 0.22 per cent, advancing by 536.98 points to close at 249,712.37, compared to 249,175.39 recorded on Thursday.
Consequently, as a result of these advances, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 60.47 per cent, while market breadth closed positive, with 30 gainers and 27 lAluminium Extrusion Industry and Daar Communications topped the gainers’ chart with 10 per cent gains each, closing at N9.90 and N2.09 per share, respectively.spectRT Briscoe climbed by 9.93 per cent to close at N14.06, Learn Africa advanced by 9.79 per cent to end at N12.90, and Red Star Express gained 9.56 per cent, settling at N34.95 per share. per share.
On the other hand, Trans-Nationwide Express led the losers’ chart by 9.92 per cent, ending the session at N5.72. Livestock Feeds trailed by 9.64 per cent, settling at N8.90, and The Initiates shed by 8.65 per cent, finishing at N33.80. Ellah Lakes dipped by 8.64 per cent to close at N10.05, and Neimeth Pharmaceuticals slid 6.36 per cent to end at N10.30 per share. per share.
Despite gains in major indices, market activity declined on the day, as total volume traded fell 32.76 per cent to 711.86 million shares, worth N29.08 billion, in 62,386 transactions.
Amid these market trends, Fidelity Bank emerged as the most active stock by both volume and value, with 198.08 million shares traded valued at N4.59 billion.
This represented 27.83 per cent of the day’s total volume and 15.80 per cent of its total value.