Nigerian stock market opened the week on a positive note, as market capitalisation rose by 0.44 per cent to N140.435 trillion from N139.826 trillion, reflecting a gain of N609 billion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index advanced by 946.27 points, or 0.44 per cent, increasing from 217,167.57 to 218,113.84.
The upbeat performance was driven by gains in mid and large-cap stocks like Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, Union Dicon Salt, Fidelity Bank, Trans-Nationwide Express, Access Corporation, and 31 other stocks.
Generally, banking stocks were observed to have significantly driven the market.
While the Year-to-Date return rose to 40.16 per cent, the market breadth also closed positive with 36 gainers and 35 losers.
The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company and Union Dicon Salt led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, settling at N242 and N18.15 per share respectively.
Also, Fidelity Bank added by 9.98 per cent, closing at N22.05, Trans-Nationwide Express increased by 9.92 per cent, finishing at N6.65 while Access Corporation gained by 9.87 per cent, closing at N32.85 per share.
Conversely, Stanbic IBTC and Livingtrust Mortgage Bank topped the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each, ending the session at N169.70 and N3.69 per share respectively.
Similarly, Transcorp Power lost by 9.97 per cent, finishing at N272.70, Abbey Mortgage Bank dropped by 9.88 per cent, closing at N7.30 and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.80 per cent, settling at N1.14 per share.
A total of 983.9 million shares worth N50.8 billion were traded across 76,410 transactions, compared to 1.3 billion shares valued at N54.4 billion that was exchanged in 56,923 deals earlier on Friday.
Analysis of the the above revealed that the market activity witnessed a 21.79 per cent decline.
Access Corporation recorded the highest volume with 91.65 million shares traded, accounting for 9.31 per cent of the day’s volume.
Zenith Bank recorded the highest value, at N7 billion, accounting for 13.80 per cent of the value traded for the day.
Analysing the market, Mr David Adonri, Vice President of Highcap Securities, said the equities rally was largely driven by strong performance in the banking sector.
He noted that significant buying interest was recorded in mid-tier banks such as Access Bank, Fidelity Bank and Sterling Bank, which witnessed heightened demand from investors.
Adonri added that United Bank for Africa (UBA), which had traded below the N50 mark for a prolonged period, rebounded strongly during the session, crossing the N50 price level.
According to him, the banking sector recorded a highly bullish outing and played a decisive role in driving the overall market performance.
“The banks were extremely bullish and they moved the market today,” he said.
