Nigeria’s equities market finished the week higher on Friday, snapping a four-session downturn that had wiped out roughly N5.1 trillion in value. Investors returned to the market after the Nigerian Exchange Limited data showed a rebound in both overall market valuation and trading activity, lifting sentiment at the end of the week.
Friday’s turnaround after a bearish stretch
- The Nigerian Exchange Limited reported that market capitalisation increased by N234 billion, or 0.15%, rising from N155.359 trillion on Thursday to N155.593 trillion on Friday.
- The All-Share Index (ASI) climbed by 366 points, also up 0.15%, to close at 242,593.31, compared with 242,227.31 in the preceding session.
- As a result of the improvement, the market’s year-to-date gain moved higher to 55.90%.
- Market breadth ended in positive territory, with 39 listed companies advancing while 11 declined, indicating a broader shift toward buying rather than isolated gains.
Among the leading risers, Abbey Mortgage Bank, International Energy Insurance, and DAAR Communications recorded the strongest percentage increases, each gaining 10% to finish at N9.35, N7.26, and N1.98 respectively.
On the declining side, Academy Press dropped 9.84% to close at N8.25. University Press also fell, sliding 9.73% to N5.10. VFD Group was another notable decliner, losing 7.59% to end the session at N10.35 per share.
Improving liquidity and deal flow
- Trading activity strengthened as total market volume rose by 3.40% to 608.49 million shares.
- Those shares changed hands in 53,826 deals, with the total value of transactions increasing to N32.03 billion.
- Abbey Mortgage Bank topped volume charts, trading 164.08 million shares, which accounted for 26.97% of the total shares traded.
- In value terms, Seplat led with deals worth N9.74 billion, representing 30.39% of total market turnover.
Context: prior losses during the week
The rebound came after a difficult period for investors. On Thursday, the market saw losses of N1.8 trillion, and the broader stretch from Monday through Wednesday also recorded heavy declines.
