The Nigerian equities market sustained its upward momentum on Thursday, marking a third straight day of gains as investors added N20 billion to market value.
Market capitalisation on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) edged up from N128.977 trillion to N128.997 trillion, representing a modest 0.02 percent increase.
Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 32.14 points, or 0.02 percent, closing at 200,957.89 compared to 200,925.75 recorded in the previous session. This pushed the year-to-date return higher to 29.14 percent, even as market breadth remained negative, with 36 decliners outweighing 30 gainers.
Leading the gainers were Premier Paints and Zichis Agro Allied Industries, both posting 10 percent increases to close at N34.10 and N12.54 per share, respectively. They were followed by Legend Internet, John Holt, and McNichols.
On the flip side, University Press recorded the steepest loss, shedding 9.17 percent to close at N5.45 per share. Other decliners included Sunu Assurances, Veritas Kapital Assurance, FTN Cocoa Processors, and NGX Group.
Trading activity also improved, with total volume rising by 26.05 percent to 678.13 million shares valued at N33.14 billion across 42,222 deals.
Access Corporation led in volume, recording 134.59 million shares, which accounted for 19.85 percent of total trades. In terms of value, MTN Nigeria dominated with transactions worth N11.06 billion, representing 33.38 percent of the day’s turnover.
This latest gain builds on earlier positive sessions in the week, during which investors recorded gains of N141 billion and N1.09 trillion in the preceding two trading days.
