Equities market gains N138bn

The Nigerian equities market sustained its upward trend on Thursday, gaining N138 billion as investors continued to invest into select large- and mid-cap stocks with strong price action and improving fundamentals.

Trading remained highly selective, reflecting a market that is still constructive as participants weigh near-term profit-taking risks against expectations of solid corporate earnings and sector-specific tailwinds.

Market capitalisation of listed equities improved by 0.13 per cent to N102.822 trillion from N102.684 trillion reported the previous day.

The NGX All Share Index also appreciated by 214.80 basis points to 160806.56 points from 160591.76 points traded on Wednesday.Although the market breath was negative with 41 decliners against 32 advancers, gains in the shares of Mecure, Eterna Plc, Eunisell, Cap, Champion Breweries among others out weight losses in the shares of AustinLaz, Conoil among others, bringing year to date return to 3.34 per cent.

An analysis of the investment showed that Neimeth international Pharmaceutical Plc led gainers table with 10 per cent to N7.70 per unit, May and Baker followed with 9.85 per cent to close at N26.20 per share, Entranzact added 9.64 per cent to close at N13.65 per unit, Multiverse gained 9.51 per cent to close at N21.30 per share, Mecure up by 9.42 per cent to close at N74.95 per share.On the contrary, International General Insurance topped losers chart, dropping by 9.90 per cent to close at N2.73 per share, ABC Transport trailed with a loss of 9.88 per cent to close at N4.47 per unit, AustinLaz dipped by 9.84 per cent to close at N4.58 per unit, Conoil dipped by 9.72 per cent to close at N169.00 per share, Veritas Kapital declined by 9.69 per cent to close at N1.77 per share.

Volume of transactions declined by 776,937 million, representing 54.64 per cent as investors traded 645.063 million shares against 1.422 billion reported the previous day.

Value of trades also went down by 18.97 per cent to settle at N16.448 billion in 44410 deals.Transactions in the shares of Chams Plc led market activities with 60.460 million shares worth N236.815 million, Linkage Assurance followed with account of 54.112 million shares cost N97.617 million, Tantalizer exchanged 44.961 million shares cost N129.712 million, NSLTech exchanged 29.764 million shares cost N25.914 million, Access Holdings company traded 35.523 million shares worth N815.420 million, Champion Breweries exchanged 31.291 million shares cost N519.092 million