The Nigerian Exchange Limited reversed the previous trading session’s loss driven by investors’ demand for some of the small and mid-cap stocks leading to a gain of N263bn.
Consequently, the All-Share Index rose by 0.47 per cent to close at 100,503.21 points, reflecting robust buying interest across various counters. Similarly, the market capitalisation of traded equities appreciated to N56.91tn, providing equity investors with gains of N262.8bn.
At the close of trading, the exchange recorded fewer gainers (24) compared to decliners (29).
Market breadth on Thursday was lacklustre due to low-traded volumes. The daily average volume decreased by 64.3 per cent to 392.8 million units, while the total number of deals for the day advanced by 3.4 per cent to 9,013. The traded value dipped by 17.3 per cent to N8.33bn.
The shares of Guaranty Trust Holding Company emerged as the most traded security by volume with 39.75 million units worth N1.80bn in a total of 663 deals while Airtel Africa was the most traded security by value at N2.25bn in just 34 trades.
Across the sectors, the performance was mixed. The oil and gas, consumer goods and industrial goods sectors were the gainers for the day with 0.19 per cent, 0.07 per cent, and 0.01 per cent, respectively due to interests in Airtel Africa, Eterna Plc, Oando, NASCON Allied Industries, Flour Mills, Unilever and Champion Breweries Plc.
The insurance and banking sectors, recorded losses of 2.35 per cent and 2.28 per cent, respectively at the close of trading.
At the end of trading, the top gainers included United Capital (9.92 per cent), Oando (9.76 per cent), Africa Prudential (9.55 per cent), Learn Africa (9.38 per cent), and ABC Transport (9.09 per cent).
On the other hand, the top decliners were Linkage Assurance (-10 per cent), Veritas Kapital (-10 per cent) Vita Foam (9.67 per cent), Zenith Bank (-7 per cent) and Livestock Feeds (-6.84 per cent).
