The Nigerian equities market commenced the new month on a bullish note on Monday, with investors recording a gain of N62 billion at the close of the first trading session of May.
The positive performance was largely driven by renewed buying interest in energy, consumer and industrial stocks, lifting overall market sentiment.
Notable gainers included FTN Cocoa Processors, Consolidated Hallmark, CAP, AIICO Insurance, and Dangote Sugar, alongside 38 other advancing equities.
Market capitalisation rose by N62 billion, or 0.36 per cent, to close at N156.056 trillion, up from N155.994 trillion recorded in the previous session.
Similarly, the All-Share Index advanced by 881.16 points, representing a 0.36 per cent increase, to settle at 243,158.97, compared to 242,277.81 posted earlier.
As a result, the Year-to-Date (YTD) return improved to 56.26 per cent, while market breadth remained positive, with 43 gainers against 34 losers.
On the gainers’ chart, FTN Cocoa Processors and Consolidated Hallmark led with a 10 per cent increase each, closing at N6.05 and N5.72 per share respectively. CAP followed with a 9.99 per cent gain to close at N159.70, while AIICO Insurance appreciated by 9.98 per cent to settle at N4.74. Dangote Sugar also rose by 9.97 per cent to close at N76.65 per share.
On the flip side, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company topped the losers’ chart with a decline of 23 per cent, closing at N198.65. International Energy Insurance dropped by 9.82 per cent to N2.48, while UPDC shed 9.18 per cent to close at N4.45 per share.
Other decliners included Learn Africa, which fell by 9.14 per cent to N8.45, and NEM Insurance, which lost 8.02 per cent to close at N28.10 per share.
Despite the positive market performance, trading activity weakened during the session. Total traded volume declined by 48.30 per cent to 967.47 million shares, valued at N43.84 billion, exchanged in 122,041 deals.
VFD Group led the volume chart with 255.35 million shares, accounting for 26.39 per cent of total trades, while Zenith Bank recorded the highest transaction value at N8.42 billion, representing 19.20 per cent of the day’s turnover.
