|By Adejumo Adekunle-
The Nigerian stock market surged to an all-time high on Thursday as the Nigerian Exchange Group, NGX Limited, recorded a historic N1.806 trillion gain in a single trading day—driven by renewed investor confidence and improved liquidity across the system.
The All-Share Index (ASI) jumped by 2,457.13 points, or 2.01 per cent, to close at 124,446.80, surpassing the 124,000 threshold for the first time in history. The market had previously closed at 121,989.67 on Wednesday.
This rally pushed the market capitalisation up by 2.35 per cent to N78.726 trillion, a significant leap from the N76.970 trillion posted the previous day.
Analysts attribute the bullish performance to strong investor sentiment, growing trust in ongoing economic reforms, and an increasingly liquid equities market.
Gainers dominate the market
The market closed with a robust positive breadth: 70 stocks recorded gains, while only 10 posted losses.
Top performers included FTN Cocoa and UPDC, both rising 10 per cent to close at N6.82 and N4.62 respectively. UBA also gained 10 per cent to close at N39.60 per share, while Consolidated Hallmark Holdings and Haldane McCall both appreciated by 10 per cent, ending at N3.30 and N4.73 respectively.
Losers lag behind the rally
On the flip side, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals dropped by 9.91 per cent to N9 per share. Legend Internet lost 9.88 per cent to close at N7.21. Industrial and Medical Gases declined 7.36 per cent to N34, while Cadbury Nigeria fell 6.22 per cent to N55. Livestock Feeds dropped 5.67 per cent, ending the day at N9.15.
Trade volume spikes
Market activity intensified significantly, with 1.3 billion shares worth N27.73 billion exchanged in 27,875 deals. This represents a jump from Wednesday’s volume of 888.70 million shares valued at N15.609 billion across 24,303 transactions.
Access Corporation led the activity chart with 174.22 million shares valued at N3.99 billion. AIICO Insurance followed, trading 81.96 million shares worth N165 million. Ja Paul Gold recorded 74.01 million shares at a value of N245.2 million.
UBA continued its strong presence, exchanging 64.51 million shares worth N2.52 billion. First City Monument Bank closed the top five with 63.3 million shares traded, valued at N585.75 million.
Market watchers believe the ongoing momentum could continue if policy stability and investor-friendly reforms are sustained in the coming weeks.
