The Nigerian Stock Market recorded a strong bullish trend yesterday, adding N409.66 billion to market capitalization as investors showed increased demand for Seplat Energy Plc and 34 other stocks. The market opened at N102.3 trillion and closed at N102.685 trillion, marking a 0.4% gain, fueled largely by heavy buying in the oil and gas sector.
Seplat Energy led the charge, jumping 10%, or N561 per share, to close at N6,171 per share. Over the past three days, market capitalization has surged by N2.75 trillion, rising from N99.938 trillion to N102.685 trillion, signaling strong investor confidence in key blue-chip stocks. The NGX All-Share Index followed suit, closing at 160,591.76 points, up 640.68 points (0.4%) from the previous session.
Sectoral performance was largely positive. The NGX Oil & Gas Index gained 3.9%, while the Insurance (+1.1%), Industrial Goods (+0.5%), and Consumer Goods (+0.5%) indices also rose. The Banking Index was the only laggard, dipping 0.1%, reflecting selective profit-taking among investors. Stocks such as Okomu Oil, Union Dicon Salt, and Seplat Energy recorded the highest price gains of 10% each, with NCR Nigeria and McNichols following closely.
Market losers were led by Cadbury Nigeria, down 10% to N63 per share, followed by Austin Laz & Company and Aluminium Extrusion Industries, each declining close to 10%. Others, including Haldane McCall and FTN Cocoa Processors, also saw significant drops, signaling some profit-taking amid the broader market rally.
Trading activity soared, with total volume up 90.84% to 1.441 billion units valued at N20.695 billion across 49,286 deals. Universal Insurance topped the activity chart with over 804 million shares traded. Analysts at Imperial Asset Managers Limited noted that market sentiment remains cautiously positive, driven by early-year momentum and interest in mid- and large-cap stocks. They cautioned, however, that sector rotation and profit-taking may influence near-term market direction.
source: This day