Equities market records historic N1.37trn single-day gain

The equities market closed bullish on Wednesday, adding N1.37 trillion to investors’ wealth.

This positive performance was driven by increased demand for blue-chip stocks and the release of companies’ annual financial reports on the Nigerian Exchange Ltd.

The market capitalisation, which opened at N106.494 trillion, closed at N107.861 trillion, representing an increase of N1.37 trillion or 1.28 per cent.

Similarly, the All-Share Index rose by 2,128.61 points or 1.28 per cent, from 165,901.57 to 168,030.18.

The market breadth also closed positive with 53 gainers and 26 losers.

Berger Paints, RT Briscoe, Daar Communications and Fortis Global Insurance led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, closing at N66, N10.45, N1.87 and 22k per share respectively.

Also, First Holding Company increased by 9.92 per cent, settling at N48.75 per share.

On the flip side, Red Star Express and Deap Capital Management led the losers’ chart by 9.97 per cent, finishing at N17.15 and N6.86 per share.

Similarly, Union Homes Real Estate Investment dropped by 9.95 per cent, ending the session at N69.25, Mc Nicholas dipped by 9.93 per cent, closing at N6.53 and Etranzact shed by 9.89 per cent, settling at N16.85 per share.

However, the market activity revealed an overall decline as 694.8 million shares valued at N20.6 billion were traded across 42,095 transactions.

This is in contrast with the earlier 736.4 million shares worth N24.7 billion that was exchanged in 46,026 deals.

Chams recorded the highest volume with 57.44 million shares traded, accounting for 8.27 per cent of the day’s total volume.
Seplat recorded the highest value traded at N2.56 billion, accounting for 12.45 per cent of the total value traded for the day.