The Nigerian equities market extended its bullish rally on Thursday, with investors gaining N1.698 trillion.

The positive performance was due to sustained investors’ interest in equities such as: Okomu Oil, Deap Capital Management, Fortis Global Insurance, Infinity Trust, Zichis Agro Allied Industries and 47 other equities.

Also, robust earnings releases and attractive dividend prospects from stocks worth over N1 trillion companies have continued to bolster investor sentiment.

In addition, heightened activity by Pension Fund Administrators has channelled substantial new funds into large-cap stocks, further strengthening market momentum.

The market capitalisation rose from N122.236 trillion at the opening of trade to N123.934 trillion at the close, representing an increase of 1.39 per cent or N1.698 trillion.

Similarly, the All-Share Index advanced by 1.39 per cent, or 2,645.61 points, climbing from 190,427.96 to 193,073.57. This led the year-to-date return to 24.09 per cent, as the market breadth closed positive with 52 gainers and 26 losers.

Okomu Oil, Deap Capital Management and Fortis Global Insurance led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, closing at N1,459.70, N6.93 and 55k per share respectively.

Zichis Agro Allied Industries and Infinity Trust grew by 9.96 per cent each, settling at N14.35 and N15.79 per share.

Conversely, Multiverse Mining, Mc Nicholas, Tripple Gee and Secure Electronic Technology led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each, finishing at N25.20, N8.28, N5.40 and N1.80 per share respectively. Also, Meyer shed by 9.80 per cent, ending the session at N20.70 per share.

A total of 898.5 million shares valued at N38.5 billion were exchanged in 61,953 transactions. This is compared to 3.7 billion shares valued at N61.9 billion that was traded across 68,693 deals recorded earlier on Wednesday. This revealed a 76 per cent drop in volume, 38 per cent decline in value and 10 per cent decrease in deals.

Japaul Gold recorded the highest volume with 80.12 million shares traded, accounting for 9.17 per cent of the day’s total volume. GTCO recorded the highest value at N6.20 billion, accounting for 16.51 per cent of value traded for the day.

(NAN)