The Nigerian equities market extended its positive run on Thursday, September 24, as buying interest in Seplat Energy, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, Fidelity Bank and NASCON Allied Industries pushed the benchmark index higher and lifted market capitalisation to ₦163.68 trillion.
The Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index advanced by 0.38 per cent to 252,150.01 points, up from 251,191.02 points recorded in the previous session, according to the Cordros Securities Daily Market Update.
The latest advance marked the market’s fourth consecutive positive session, following gains of 0.14 per cent on Monday, 0.18 per cent on Tuesday and 0.23 per cent on Wednesday.
The sustained rally pushed the market’s week-to-date return to 0.94 per cent, while month-to-date performance strengthened to 3.26 per cent. Year-to-date return rose further to 62.04 per cent.
Market capitalisation consequently closed at ₦163.679 trillion, bringing the market closer to its 52-week high of 252,508.19 points.
Seplat, NAHCO Drive Market Higher
Thursday’s positive performance was supported by gains in several large and mid-cap stocks.
Seplat Energy rose 7.3 per cent, while NAHCO advanced 8.6 per cent. Fidelity Bank gained 3.7 per cent and NASCON added 2.8 per cent, helping to lift the broader market.
Cordros said bullish sentiment continued to dominate the local bourse, although performance across sectors remained mixed.
The Oil and Gas Index gained 4.0 per cent, supported by buying interest in energy stocks.
Banking, however, declined 0.3 per cent, while the Insurance Index slipped 0.1 per cent. Consumer Goods and Industrial Goods closed broadly unchanged.
The divergence suggests that the overall market advance was driven more strongly by selected stocks rather than uniform gains across all sectors.
CMFC Leads Gainers
CMFC topped Thursday’s gainers’ chart after appreciating by the maximum 10 per cent, closing at ₦2.97 from ₦2.70.
RT Briscoe followed with a 9.55 per cent gain to ₦9.75, while Caverton Offshore Support Group recovered strongly, rising 8.75 per cent to ₦4.35.
NAHCO advanced 8.57 per cent to ₦152, while Linkage Assurance gained 7.36 per cent to close at ₦1.75.
On the opposite side of the market, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals recorded the steepest decline, falling 7.23 per cent from ₦8.30 to ₦7.70.
Ellah Lakes declined 5.33 per cent, Mutual Benefits Assurance lost 4.65 per cent, Lasaco Assurance dropped 4.44 per cent and Wema Bank fell 3.93 per cent.
Overall market breadth remained positive, although considerably narrower than the previous session.
A total of 27 stocks advanced against 24 decliners, giving a positive market breadth ratio of about 1.1 to one.
Trading Volume Drops 38.5%, Value Rises
Despite the increase in the benchmark index, overall trading volume declined significantly.
Investors exchanged 978.29 million shares, representing a 38.49 per cent decline from the 1.59 billion units traded during Wednesday’s session.
However, the value of transactions increased 9.49 per cent to ₦50.16 billion, compared with ₦45.82 billion in the previous session. The transactions were completed in 48,558 deals.
The increase in transaction value despite the decline in volume indicates greater activity in higher-priced stocks during the session.
According to the Top Five Trades by Volume table on page one of the report, Fidelity Bank led with 122.06 million shares, accounting for 12.48 per cent of market volume.
VFD Group followed with 65.94 million units, Transcorp recorded 43.72 million shares, Access Holdings traded 42.60 million units and Chams recorded 34.81 million shares.
Notably, the report’s accompanying commentary states that Fidelity Bank traded 335.20 million units, which differs from the 122.06 million units shown in the report’s market table. For consistency with the detailed market data, the table figure is retained here.
Seplat Dominates Trading Value
Seplat Energy accounted for the largest transaction value during the session, with trades worth ₦13.40 billion, representing 26.71 per cent of total market value.
Fidelity Bank followed with ₦6.91 billion, while Aradel Holdings recorded ₦6.87 billion.
Zenith Bank accounted for ₦4.08 billion and Transcorp completed transactions valued at ₦2.44 billion.
The heavy value concentration in Seplat coincided with the strong rally in the Oil and Gas Index.
Naira Strengthens to ₦1,328.37/$
Away from equities, Nigeria’s official foreign-exchange rate strengthened marginally.
The naira appreciated by three basis points to ₦1,328.37 per dollar, bringing its year-to-date appreciation to 8.03 per cent, according to the report.
Liquidity conditions also improved in the money market, with the overnight lending rate declining by 78 basis points to 20.98 per cent, from 21.76 per cent in the previous session. Cordros attributed the decline to the absence of significant funding pressure in the financial system.
Treasury, Bond Yields Decline
The fixed-income market was also bullish.
Average Treasury bill yields declined by 12 basis points to 18.3 per cent, with buying interest recorded across short-, mid- and long-dated instruments.
The OMO segment recorded a marginal one-basis-point decline in average yield to 20.0 per cent.
FGN bonds similarly attracted buying interest, pushing the average secondary-market yield down by 22 basis points to 15.6 per cent.
Demand was particularly evident in the April 2029, April 2032 and January 2042 bonds, whose yields declined by 35, 39 and 35 basis points, respectively.
The combination of another positive equities session and declining fixed-income yields left Nigerian financial markets broadly bullish on Thursday, with attention now shifting to whether the NGX can sustain its four-session advance and break above its recent 52-week high.
