Banking stocks drove a positive close on the Nigerian Exchange on Monday, pushing total market capitalization up by 0.44 percent to N140.44 trillion from N139.84 trillion, as investors recorded a gain of N609 billion.
The All-Share Index also rose by 946.27 points, representing a 0.44 percent increase, to close at 218,113.84, up from 217,167.57 recorded in the previous session.
Market activity was largely propelled by strong performances in banking equities, which significantly influenced the overall upward trend.
The year-to-date return improved further to 40.16 percent, while market breadth closed positive with 36 gainers against 35 losers.
On the gainers’ chart, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company and Union Dicon Salt led with 10 percent gains each, closing at N242 and N18.15 per share, respectively. Fidelity Bank rose by 9.98 percent to N22.05, Trans-Nationwide Express gained 9.92 percent to close at N6.65, while Access Corporation advanced by 9.87 percent to N32.85 per share.
On the flip side, Stanbic IBTC and Livingtrust Mortgage Bank topped the losers’ table, shedding 10 percent each to close at N169.70 and N3.69, respectively. Transcorp Power declined by 9.97 percent to N272.70, Abbey Mortgage Bank dropped by 9.88 percent to N7.30, and Guinea Insurance fell by 8.80 percent to N1.14 per share.
A total of 983.9 million shares valued at N50.8 billion were traded in 76,410 deals, compared to 1.3 billion shares worth N54.4 billion exchanged in 56,923 transactions in the previous session.
This represents a 21.79 per cent decline in overall market activity.
Access Corporation recorded the highest trading volume with 91.65 million shares, accounting for 9.31 per cent of total volume, while Zenith Bank led in value terms with trades worth N7 billion, representing 13.80 per cent of the day’s total value.
