The Nigerian stock market opened the week on a bullish trajectory on Monday, with investors recording gains of N1.424 trillion.
Market capitalization rose by 1.29 percent to close at N111.658 trillion, up from an opening figure of N110.234 trillion, reflecting a N1.424 trillion increase.
Similarly, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index advanced by 1.29 percent, gaining 2,218.73 points to settle at 173,946.22 from 171,727.49.
As a result, the market’s year-to-date return improved to 11.78 percent, while market breadth closed positive with 59 gainers against 26 losers.
The rally was driven by strong demand for large- and mid-cap stocks such as CAP, Daar Communications, May & Baker, RT Briscoe, and Zichis Agro Allied Industries, alongside 54 other advancing equities.
CAP, May & Baker, and Daar Communications topped the gainers’ chart, each appreciating by 10 percent to close at N90.20, N43.45, and N2.09 per share, respectively.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, Eunisell Interlinked led the losers with a decline of 9.98 percent to close at N134.85, followed by Tripple Gee, Abbey Mortgage Bank, Austinlaz, and Haldane McCall.
A breakdown of market activity showed an 18.72 percent drop in trading volume and a 35 percent decline in value, although the number of deals increased by 29 percent. A total of 775.18 million shares valued at N27.9 billion were exchanged in 65,960 transactions, compared with 953.8 million shares worth N43.1 billion traded in 51,005 deals in the previous session.
Access Corporation recorded the highest trading volume with 67.14 million shares, accounting for 8.66 percent of the total volume, while Zenith Bank led in value terms with trades worth N3.43 billion, representing 12.29 percent of the day’s total value.