The Nigerian stock market closed bullish on Thursday, posting a gain of N97 billion for investors.

This marked the third consecutive positive rally of the week.

The positive performance was driven by sustained investor interest in stocks such as UACN, Morison, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, WAPIC, AXA Mansard, and 18 others.

Specifically, the market capitalisation, which opened at N92.628 trillion, added N97 billion or 0.10 per cent to close at N92.725 trillion.

The All-Share Index also gained 0.10 per cent, or 152.28 points, to settle at 145,476.15, against 145,323.87 recorded on Wednesday.

As a result, the Year-to-Date return increased to 41.34 per cent.

In spite of the overall positive sentiment, market breadth closed negative, with 28 losers and 23 gainers.

Eunisell Interlinked and Ellah Lakes led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each, settling at N72.90 and N13.14 per share, respectively, while Transcorp Hotel fell by 9.95 per cent to close at N157.50 per share.

Omatek Ventures dropped by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, while Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19 per share.

On the other hand, UACN led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent, ending the session at N88. Morison followed with a 9.94 per cent increase to N3.54, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated rose by 8.53 per cent to close at N36.90 per share.

Also, WAPIC gained 8.47 per cent to finish at N2.56, while AXA Mansard appreciated by 7.75 per cent to N13.90 per share.

Analysis of market activity showed declines in both market value and volume, with slight growth in deals.

A total of 1.9 billion shares valued at N19.19 billion were traded across 23,369 transactions, compared to 2.3 billion shares worth N20.97 billion exchanged in 21,513 deals on Wednesday.

For the second consecutive session, Etransact recorded the highest volume and value, with 1.58 billion shares traded, valued at N6.37 billion.

(NAN)