The Nigerian stock market closed the trading week on a positive note on Friday, posting a gain of ₦486 billion in capitalisation despite a shortened trading window due to the Eid Kabir and Democracy Day public holidays observed on Monday and Thursday.
Market capitalisation climbed by ₦486 billion or 0.67 per cent, finishing at ₦72.788 trillion, up from ₦72.302 trillion recorded at the close of trading on Wednesday.
Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 770.43 points, or 0.67 per cent, to end at 115,429.54, compared to 114,659.11 in the previous session.
The rally was largely supported by renewed investor interest in medium and large-cap stocks including May & Baker, Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank, Stanbic IBTC, MRS Oil, and others.
Market breadth also reflected strong sentiment, with 50 gainers outweighing 22 decliners.
May & Baker topped the gainers’ chart, appreciating by 10 per cent to close at ₦15.40 per share. Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank also rose by 10 per cent to finish at ₦7.70 per share.
Livingtrust Mortgage Bank added 10 per cent as well, ending at ₦5.72 per share. Stanbic IBTC recorded a 9.98 per cent increase to close at ₦79.35 per share, while MRS Oil advanced 9.94 per cent to settle at ₦155.90 per share.
On the losing side, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills led with a 10 per cent decline, closing at ₦112.55 per share. Conoil dropped 9.99 per cent to finish at ₦241.50 per share, while Nigerian Enamelware shed 9.98 per cent to end the session at ₦18.50 per share.
University Press lost 9.84 per cent to close at ₦5.50 per share, and John Holt fell by 9.49 per cent to settle at ₦6.20 per share.
Trading activity surged on Friday, with 933.26 million shares valued at ₦17.95 billion exchanged in 20,500 deals. This marked a significant increase from Wednesday’s session, which saw 471.15 million shares worth ₦14.19 billion traded across 20,538 transactions.
Tantalizer led the volume chart with 420.45 million shares valued at ₦946.06 million. GTCO followed with 35.44 million shares traded at a value of ₦2.52 billion.
Zenith Bank recorded 34.72 million shares worth ₦1.75 billion, while Computer Warehouse Group posted a turnover of 29.81 million shares worth ₦278.19 million. First Holdco completed the top five with 27.28 million shares traded, valued at ₦779.16 million.