The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) recorded its first gain in March, driven by renewed investor interest, which drove the market capitalisation up by N216bn.
Following this positive movement, the total market capitalisation of the equity market now stands at N66.9tn.
At the close of trading on Thursday, the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 344.24 points, or 0.32 per cent, settling at 106,780.72 points. While the index still reflects a one-week decline of 0.83%, it maintains a four-week increase of 1.28 per cent and a year-to-date gain of 3.74 per cent, indicating overall market stability.
Market Performance Overview
- Trading Volume & Turnover: A total of 375.7 million shares worth N10.18bn were traded in 11,447 deals, marking a 4% decline in volume and a 10% drop in turnover compared to Wednesday.
- Number of Stocks Traded: 128 stocks participated, with 35 gainers, 15 decliners, and others remaining unchanged.
Top Gainers & Losers
- Gainers:
- Transcorp Nigeria Plc led with a 9.98% rise, closing at N51.80 per share.
- SCOA Nigeria gained 9.88% to N3.78 per share.
- Africa Prudential advanced by 9.87%, reaching N30.60 per share.
- Tantalizers climbed 9.72% to N2.37 per share.
- Losers:
- MRS Oil Nigeria, Red Star Express, and Sunu Assurances Nigeria were the biggest losers, each dropping 10%.
- MRS Oil ended at N166.50 per share, Red Star Express at N5.94 per share, and Sunu Assurances at N4.77 per share.
- Lasaco Assurance also declined by 7.99%, closing at N2.65 per share.
Sectoral Performance
- Banking Sector: Led the trading volume with:
- Guaranty Trust Holding (49.9 million shares).
- Access Holdings (43.9 million shares).
- Zenith Bank (36.5 million shares).
- Fidelity Bank (27.1 million shares).
- Key Indices Performance:
- Top 30 Index: +0.42% (reflecting increased blue-chip stock interest).
- Pension Index: +0.9% (showing confidence in pension-related equities).
- Banking Index: +0.83% (boosted by major banking stock gains).
- Consumer Goods Index: +0.78% (positive sentiment in consumer-driven stocks).
- Premium Index: +0.37% (tracking the most capitalised stocks).
- Main Board Index: +0.3%.
On Wednesday, the Nigerian Exchange had a bearish session, with investors losing N289bn, causing market capitalisation to drop to N66.7tn. However, Thursday’s gain signals a potential shift in sentiment.
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