By Seun Ibiyemi
Investors in the Nigerian equities market enjoyed a significant windfall, recording a massive gain of ₦479 billion at the close of trading on Thursday.
The market’s strong performance was largely fueled by exceptional gains in bellwether stocks, particularly PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, alongside momentum from firms like The Initiates Place Plc and Aso Savings & Loans Plc.
The rally signals renewed investor confidence and a positive start to the trading week, pushing key market indicators upward
The benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) climbed to 154,489.9 points from 153,736.25 points recorded the previous day, while market capitalisation rose to ₦98 trillion from ₦97.5 trillion, marking another positive session for the bourse.
Despite the overall gain, market breadth closed negative with 34 gainers, 37 losers, and 75 unchanged stocks across 30,703 deals.
A total of 926.92 million units of shares worth ₦26.9 billion exchanged hands during the session.
PZ led the gainers’ chart with a 10 per cent increase to close at ₦42.90 per share, followed by The Initiates Place, also up 10 per cent to ₦14.30, and Aso Savings & Loans, which appreciated by 9.09 per cent to ₦0.60 per share.
Conversely, John Holt Plc topped the decliners’ list with a 9.72 pre cent drop to ₦6.50 per share, while Multiverse Mining & Exploration fell 9.71 per cent to ₦12.55, and Stanbic IBTC dipped 9.15 per cent to ₦107.20 per share.
On the activity chart, Japaul Gold and Ventures Plc led in volume with 436 million shares traded in 283 deals, followed by Fidelity Bank Plc with 77 million shares in 514 deals, and Lafarge Wapco with 46 million shares in 888 deals.
In terms of value, Lafarge Wapco dominated with transactions worth ₦6.9 billion, followed by Seplat Energy at ₦2.3 billion, and NASCON Allied Industries at ₦1.9 billion.