The equities market rebounded on Friday, adding ₦74 billion in market capitalisation as investors returned to bargain-hunting in select stocks following losses recorded in the previous session.
Market capitalisation rose by 0.07 per cent to close at ₦105.959 trillion, up from ₦105.885 trillion at the prior close.
In the same vein, the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 114.81 points, or 0.07 per cent, to settle at 165,512.18, compared with 165,397.37 recorded in the preceding session.
The recovery was driven by renewed investor interest in stocks such as Morison, Union Homes Real Estate Investment Trust, SCOA, RT Briscoe and Austinlaz, among others.
Despite the positive close, market breadth ended negative, with 40 decliners against 34 advancers.
Top Losers
Neimeth International Pharmaceutical topped the losers’ chart, declining by 9.86 per cent to close at ₦13.25 per share.
Secure Electronic Technology followed with a 9.35 per cent drop to 97 kobo, while Eterna shed 8.23 per cent to close at ₦28.45 per share.
University Press also fell by 6.25 per cent to ₦6.00, while Eunisell Interlinked dipped by 5.84 per cent to end the session at ₦153.95 per share.
Gainers
On the gainers’ side, Union Homes Real Estate Investment Trust and Morison led with gains of 9.94 per cent each, closing at ₦71.35 and ₦7.52 per share respectively.
SCOA and RT Briscoe followed closely, appreciating by 9.93 per cent to close at ₦23.80 and ₦5.98 per share, while Austinlaz rose by 9.78 per cent to ₦4.49 per share.
Trading activity weakened during the session, with declines recorded in volume, value and number of deals.
A total of 731.7 million shares valued at ₦19.05 billion were exchanged in 44,005 deals, compared with 768.3 million shares worth ₦21.2 billion traded in 46,481 transactions in the previous session.
CHAMS led the activity chart by volume, trading 76.86 million shares to account for 10.51 per cent of the total volume traded.
Zenith Bank recorded the highest value of trades at ₦3.47 billion, representing 18.20 per cent of the total market value.
