NGX Closes Week Higher as Investors Gain N405bn.

The Nigerian equities market sustained its upward momentum on Friday, gaining N405 billion as investors ended the week on a positive note.

Market capitalisation rose by 0.25 per cent from N159.153 trillion to N159.558 trillion, while the All Share Index increased by 604.22 points to close at 246,992.44.

The latest gain pushed the market’s year to date return to 58.72 per cent.

Despite the overall market gain, trading breadth was negative, with 31 stocks recording losses compared with 26 gainers.

Industrial and Medical Gases led the gainers with a 9.97 per cent increase to N30.70 per share. Juli rose by 9.66 per cent to N6.55, while University Press gained 9.09 per cent to close at N5.

On the decliners’ chart, Abbey Mortgage Bank and Royal Exchange fell by 10 per cent each to N7.70 and N1.10 respectively. Nigerian Breweries declined by 9.93 per cent to N82.45, while John Holt and Daar Communications dropped by 9.89 per cent and 9.68 per cent respectively.

Market activity also strengthened significantly, with total volume traded rising by 416.66 per cent to 2.24 billion shares valued at N73.41 billion across 42,709 deals.

Fortis Global Insurance dominated trading volume with 1.45 billion shares, representing 64.85 per cent of total volume, while Seplat Energy recorded the highest transaction value at N32.24 billion, accounting for 43.91 per cent of the total value traded.

The figures were contained in market data reported by the News Agency of Nigeria.