The Nigerian equity market experienced significant growth last week, with the All-Share Index rising by 1.22% to 103,598.30 points and market capitalization increasing by N794bn to N63.645tn. Investors traded 3.132bn shares worth N76.552bn, an improvement from the previous week’s 2.252bn shares valued at N58.831bn. The financial services sector led trading activity, contributing 74.59% of the total equity turnover volume.
Despite the overall market uptrend, some sectors recorded losses. The insurance, consumer goods, oil & gas, and sovereign bond indices fell by 1.20%, 1.20%, 0.93%, and 0.10%, respectively. However, the banking sector led the gainers with a 4.1% increase, driven by United Bank for Africa (+7.7%), Zenith Bank (+6.0%), and Access Holdings (+4.8%). The AFR-ICT and industrial goods indices also posted gains.
Additionally, 44 equities appreciated in price, while the number of decliners dropped from 57 to 44. Top gainers included SCOA Nigeria plc (+59.68%) and UPDC plc (+19.05%), while Sunu Assurances Nigeria plc led the losers, dropping 25.11%. Nigerian Exchange Limited also announced the listing of 9.25bn additional shares for Lasaco Assurance plc. Despite the positive weekly trend, the market dipped slightly by 0.05% on Thursday.
Source: Punch