The Nigerian Exchange sustained its bullish momentum on Tuesday, as the market closed with a gain of N99bn.

At the close of trading, the All-Share Index inched up by 158.05 points, or 0.15 per cent to settle at 104,788.35 points. This represented a one-week gain of 0.8 per cent, a four-week gain of 1.34 per cent, and a year-to-date increase of 1.81 per cent.

Market capitalisation rose to N64.9tn, reflecting increased investor confidence.

The session recorded a total of 471.7 million shares traded in 14,600 deals, corresponding to a market value of N19.88bn. While trading volume declined by eight per cent compared to the previous session, turnover improved by 50 per cent.

A total of 126 equities participated in trading, with 38 gainers and 23 losers.

Red Star Express and Universal Insurance Company led the gainers’ chart with a 10 per cent appreciation each, closing at N5.50 and N0.66 per share, respectively. Beta Glass Company and Northern Nigeria Flour Mills followed closely with a 9.98 per cent gain each, closing at N86.50 and N73.30 per share, respectively. Chellarams Plc and International Energy Insurance also posted gains of 9.89 per cent and 9.84 per cent, closing at N7.89 and N2.12 per share, respectively.

On the flip side, Ikeja Hotel led the losers with a 9.55 per cent decline to N9.95 per share, followed by N.E.M. Insurance Company, which fell by 6.59 per cent to N12.05. Sunu Assurances Nigeria and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings recorded losses of 6.14 per cent and 5.97 per cent, closing at N5.35 and N3.15 per share, respectively. Royal Exchange Plc and UAC of Nigeria also declined by 3.03 per cent and 2.78 per cent to close at N0.96 and N35.00 per share, respectively.

In terms of volume, FBN Holdings emerged as the most traded stock, with 83.1 million shares exchanged, followed by Zenith Bank (29.5m), Universal Insurance Company (24.2m), and UAC of Nigeria (21.2m).

Across market indices, the Top 30 Index gained 0.13 per cent, the Main Board Index advanced by 0.19 per cent, and the Pension Index rose by 0.17 per cent. The Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 0.16 per cent, while the Premium Index and Industrial Index posted modest gains of 0.07 per cent and 0.05 per cent, respectively.

Earlier, The PUNCH reported that the Nigerian equity market started the week on a positive note, with a total of 510,569,320 shares traded in 14,611 deals, valued at N13.25bn.