Nigerian Exchange (NGX) had a bull run this week, with the total market capitalisation crossing the N70 trillion barrier.
The All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,721.29 points, or 1.57 percent, to close at 111,606.22, while the total market capitalisation rose by N1.085 trillion to a historic high of N70.377 trillion.
Fireworks in heavy-weight and mid-cap stocks spearheaded the rally. Pacesetters of the pace laps of growth were top Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), Okomu Oil, Lafarge Africa, Airtel Africa, and Aradel Holdings. They formed part of the top gainers in the top market activities and opened the rally.
Afrinvest Limited analysts think the trend would continue in the next trading days as investors still favor firms with good fundamentals and high profitability margins.
Its intra-day trading was also marked by a bullish market breadth of 36 advancers and 21 decliners. The largest advancer during the day was Airtel Africa, which rose 10 percent to close at N2,372.50. Omatek Ventures was the second largest advancer, rising 9.23 percent to close at 71 kobo. Cornerstone Insurance rose 8.63 percent to close the day at N3.40.
NAHCO also shocked with an increase of 8.39 percent to N80.75, while University Press increased by 6.47 percent to end at N5.10. On the downside, McNichols topped the list of laggards with the fall of 9.80 percent to N2.21. CWG fell by 9.50 percent to end at N9.05, and Champion Breweries fell by 7.38 percent to end at N6.90.
Others that were down were Red Star Express, which lost 4.62 percent to N6.40, and Jaiz Bank, which dropped 4.46 percent to N3.21.
Deal flow increased volume by 1.13 percent to 409.57 million shares in more than 9.87 billion naira transactions. Custodian Investment topped the volume, selling 37.59 million shares worth N752.12 million. Fidelity Bank also topped both volume and value.
Veritas Kapital Assurance exchanged 33 million shares for N34.1 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 27.43 million for N1.33 billion, and Access Holdings was in position five with 23.69 million shares for N519.56 million.
This new lift is a testament to a new phase of investor confidence based on the safety of corporate dividends, macroeconomic stability, and conservative investment in growth sectors. Value-seeking institutional and retail investors have the NGX leading the good push with high-level contributions from blue-chip stocks and conservative fundamentals.
