The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) continued its bullish run on Thursday, adding N833bn in market capitalisation as strong investor interest in cement stocks pushed the All-Share Index (ASI) up by 1.02 per cent to close at 130,283.84 points. The market capitalisation rose to N82.4tn from N81.57tn, pushing the year-to-date return to 26.58 per cent.
Leading the rally were heavyweight cement stocks, with BUA Cement surging by 10 per cent to N112.20 and Dangote Cement gaining 9.99 per cent to N473.30 per share. Other top gainers included Chams Holding, FBN Holdings Plc, and ABC Transport, each posting near 10 per cent gains.
However, the day also saw significant losers, with Berger Paints, May & Baker, MeCure Industries, John Holt, Hallmark Insurance, and RT Briscoe all shedding 10 per cent. Despite the mixed performance, the Industrial Index posted a strong 9.08 per cent gain, while the Premium and Top 30 Indices rose by 2.74 per cent and 1.08 per cent respectively.
Trading activity remained robust with 1.19 billion shares exchanged in 37,418 deals, valued at N42.76bn. Access Holdings led the volume chart with 168.10 million shares traded, followed by FBN Holdings and Zenith Bank. Zenith Bank topped the value chart with N6.29bn worth of shares traded.
Thursday’s gains followed Wednesday’s rally, where the NGX added N1.44tn in market value and the ASI rose by 1.8 per cent to 128,967.08 points, driven by sustained buying in blue-chip stocks.
