By Samuel Bankole
Nigeria’s equities bounced back on Thursday from losses earlier in the week, as the benchmark All-Share Index increased by 1.62 percent to close at 65,204.62 points, lifted by gains in Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria.
The two big names in the market, MTN Nigeria shares gained 0.36 percent while Dangote Cement rallied by 9.34 percent alongside GTCO with 1.33 percent gain.
The rally by the heavyweights puts the index on track for its fourth consecutive weekly gain since the week ended.
As a result, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 27.23 percent, while the market capitalization gained N564.84 billion to close at N35.48 trillion.
READ ALSO: Seplat Energy faces asset restraint in Access Bank’s bankruptcy case against ex-chairman Orjiako
Analysis of Thursday’s market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 119.49 percent.
A total of 361.20 million shares valued at N5.74 billion were exchanged in 5,531 deals.
FBNH (7.34 percent) led the volume and value charts with 140.18 million units traded in deals worth N2.61 billion.
Market breadth closed negative at a 1.15-to-1 ratio, with declining issues outnumbering advancing ones. CAP (-10.00 percent) topped fourteen (14) others on the laggard’s table, while DANGCEM (+9.34 percent) led twelve (12) others on the leader’s log.
(Edited by Oludare Mayowa; omayowa@globalfinancialdigest.com; Newsroom: +234 8033 964 138)
