BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
The market capitalisation of the Nigerian bourse increased by N270.24 billion to close at N33.77 trillion on Thursday.
Investors are winning as the All-Share index year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 21.01 percent.
Extending gains for the second consecutive session, the local equities closed higher as the benchmark index gained 0.81 percent to settle at 62,019.88 points.
Industrial heavyweight, Dangote Cement Plc increased its share value by 1.75 percent while leading banking stocks, Zenith Bank Plc gained (+1.32%), and Stanbic IBTC Holdings picked (+1.67%).
The three stocks were the major drivers of the market’s strong performance.
Accordingly, the market remains on track for the first weekly gain in the month.
Analysis of the day’s market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 821.84 percent.
A total of 5.44 billion shares valued at N95.01 billion were exchanged in 9,948 deals.
FBNH (+2.70%) led the volume and value charts with 4.69 billion units traded in deals worth N87.81billion.
Market breadth closed positive at a 2.27-to-1 ratio, with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones.
UBN (+10.00%) led 33 others on the gainer’s log, while WAPIC (-9.59%) topped 14 others on the laggard’s table.