The bulls regained control of the equities market at the close of Thursday’s session, reflecting renewed investor optimism.
The All-Share Index climbed by 0.21 percent to 96,408.22 points, driven by strong trading activity on the NGX. Total trading volume surged by an impressive 113.19 percent to 952.13 million units, and the total value of transactions increased by 57.30 percent to N7.13 billion.
As a result, the year-to-date return of the index rose to 28.93 percent. Market capitalization of listed equities also grew by 0.21 percent to N55.38 trillion, with investors gaining N117.70 billion today.
Top gainers included OANDO (+9.98%), JBERGER (+9.97%), CORNERST (+9.88%), ETERNA (+9.86%), and DAARCOMM (+9.84%), all of which attracted strong buying interest and saw their share prices rise. Conversely, SCOA, JAPAULGOLD, TANTALIZER, FIDSON, and PRESTIGE experienced declines of -9.79 percent, -7.41 percent, – 6.76 percent, -5.45 percent, and -5.26 percent, respectively.
Sectoral performance remained mostly positive, with the Insurance, Consumer Goods, and Oil/Gas indices posting gains of 1.99 percent, 1.26 percent, and 0.39 percent, respectively.
However, the Banking and Industrial Goods indices recorded slight losses of 0.75 percent and 0.01 percent. At the end of the trading session, CONHALLPLC emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume, with 505.79 million units changing hands in 61 trades, while FBNH led in terms of total traded value, amounting to N1.41 billion.
In the money market, the Overnight NIBOR declined by 0.09 percent to settle at 20.58 percent, as banks with liquidity sought lower rates on Thursday. Likewise, key money market rates such as the Open Repo Rate (OPR) and Overnight Rate (O/N) nosedived to conclude at 19.86 percent and 20.69 percent, respectively.
The Nigerian Interbank Treasury Bills True Yield (NITTY) showed a downward trend across maturities. Meanwhile, the secondary market for Nigerian Treasury Bills saw a bullish trend, with increased investor demand causing a slight 0.01 percent drop in the average yield to 18.99 percent.
The secondary market for FGN Bonds reflected a bullish sentiment, as the average yield fell by 14 basis points, settling at 19.24 percent. In the Nigerian sovereign Eurobonds market, upbeat investor sentiment across the yield curve led to a 0.05 percent decline in the average yield, bringing it to 9.81 percent.
In the foreign exchange market, the Naira strengthened against the greenback, trading at ₦1,593.93 per dollar in the official market, a 0.79% gain from the previous close. In the parallel market the naira closed at ₦1,605 per dollar.
