Fidelity Bank emerged as the most actively traded stock on the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) on Friday, as the equities market closed the week on a bullish note with N1.105 trillion added to investors’ portfolios.
The bank recorded a trading volume of 92.39 million shares, accounting for 9.69 per cent of the total transactions for the day, underscoring strong investor interest in the financial services sector.
Overall, market capitalisation increased by 1.01 per cent, rising from N109.129 trillion to N110.234 trillion.
The All-Share Index also climbed by 1,722.13 points to close at 171,727.49, compared to 170,005.36 posted on Thursday, pushing the year-to-date return to 10.36 per cent.
The positive sentiment was driven by heightened demand for equities including Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, Deap Capital Management, Omatek Ventures, Zichis Agro Allied Industries, Austinlaz, and several others, with market breadth closing at 60 gainers against 19 losers.
Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, Deap Capital Management, and Omatek Ventures led the gainers with a 10 per cent appreciation each, closing at N136.40, N6.82, and N2.64 per share respectively.
Zichis Agro Allied Industries and Austinlaz followed, advancing by 9.98 per cent to close at N6.72 and N5.40 per share.
On the flip side, The Initiates topped the losers’ chart after shedding 9.74 per cent to settle at N19.45, while Daar Communications declined by 7.32 per cent to close at N1.90.
United Capital fell by 6.55 per cent to N18.55, WAPIC Insurance dipped by 5.71 per cent to N3.30, and First Holding Company lost 5.53 per cent to finish at N47 per share.
Trading activity strengthened significantly, with investors exchanging 953.8 million shares valued at N43.1 billion in 51,005 deals.
This represents a 34 per cent jump in volume, a 94 per cent surge in turnover, and an 11 per cent increase in deals compared to the previous session.
Presco recorded the highest value traded at N11.27 billion, accounting for 26.15 per cent of the total value traded.
