Nigerian equities finished the week on a firm note, with investors booking net gains of N344 billion as sentiment stayed upbeat into Friday’s close. Market data from the Nigerian Exchange showed market capitalisation inched up 0.22%—an increase of N344 billion—taking the total from an opening level of N159.733 trillion to a closing value of N160.077 trillion.
Broad market performance also improved. The All-Share Index (ASI) climbed 0.22%, adding 536.98 points to end at 249,712.37, up from 249,175.39 on Thursday. With the rally extending through the year, the year-to-date (YTD) gain moved to 60.47%.
Market breadth was positive, closing with 30 advancing stocks against 27 that declined. Among the top performers, Aluminum Extrusion Industry and Daar Communications both rose by 10%, settling at N9.90 and N2.09 per share, respectively. RT Briscoe gained 9.93% to close at N14.06, Learn Africa advanced 9.79% ending the session at N12.90, and Red Star Express increased 9.56%, finishing at N34.95.
Elsewhere, Trans-Nationwide Express led the decliners, dropping 9.92% to close at N5.72. Livestock Feeds fell by 9.64% to N8.90, while The Initiates shed 8.65% to finish at N33.80 per share. Ellah Lakes also retreated, declining 8.64% to close at N10.05, and Neimeth Pharmaceuticals moved lower by 6.36%, ending at N10.30.
Trading activity softened during the session. Total volume traded fell by 32.76% to 711.86 million shares, with value traded decreasing to N29.08 billion across 62,386 transactions. Fidelity Bank was the most actively traded stock in both volume and value, with 198.08 million shares changing hands worth N4.59 billion, representing 27.83% of total volume and 15.80% of total value for the day.
Looking back at the prior session, investors had gained N73 billion on Thursday after a much sharper swing earlier in the week, when they lost N1.62 trillion on Wednesday.
