By Seun Ibiyemi
The Nigerian stock market began the trading week on a positive note on Monday as investors gained N905 billion following sustained buying interest in large- and mid-cap equities.
Market capitalisation rose by 0.57 per cent to close at N160.982 trillion, up from N160.077 trillion recorded at the close of trading on Friday.
Similarly, the All-Share Index advanced by 1,412.65 points, representing a 0.57 per cent increase, to close at 251,125.02 compared with 249,712.37 posted in the previous session.
The rally was driven by continued investor demand for stocks including Airtel Africa, International Energy Insurance, Sovereign Trust Insurance, Caverton Offshore Support Group and VFD Group among other gainers.
The market’s Year-to-Date return also improved to 61.38 per cent, underscoring the sustained bullish momentum in the equities market.
Market breadth closed positive with 35 gainers against 32 losers at the end of trading.
Airtel Africa led the gainers’ chart with a 10 per cent increase to close at N3,655.70 per share. International Energy Insurance followed with a 9.68 per cent gain to close at N3.74, while Sovereign Trust Insurance appreciated by 9.65 per cent to settle at N2.50 per share.
Caverton Offshore Support Group rose by 9.63 per cent to close at N7.40, while VFD Group gained 9.55 per cent to settle at N10.90 per share.
On the losers’ table, McNichols recorded the highest decline of 10 per cent to close at N7.20 per share. The Initiates followed with a 9.91 per cent drop to close at N30.45, while Learn Africa shed 9.69 per cent to settle at N11.65 per share.
Zichis Agro Allied Industries declined by 7.93 per cent to close at N30.98, while May & Baker Nigeria fell by 6.60 per cent to close at N46.70 per share.
Despite the bullish performance, trading activity weakened as total volume traded declined by 11.58 per cent to 629.42 million shares.
The shares were valued at N40.91 billion and exchanged in 82,434 deals during the trading session.
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Access Holdings led the volume chart with 61.29 million shares traded, accounting for 9.74 per cent of total market volume.
Meanwhile, Aradel Holdings topped the value chart with transactions worth N11.99 billion, representing 29.30 per cent of the total value traded on the exchange.
