The Nigerian stock market staged a strong rebound on Friday, recording a major surge in trading activity as investors exchanged 1.826 billion shares worth N20.03 billion in 20,645 deals.
The performance marked a sharp rise from Thursday’s 324.6 million shares valued at N13.05 billion traded across 18,328 transactions, reflecting renewed investor confidence and heightened market participation.
the market displayed broad strength, with both volume and value showing significant improvement. Access Corporation dominated the activity chart, trading 103.29 million shares valued at N2.17 billion.
The bullish sentiment also translated into gains for investors, who collectively added N179 billion in market value by the close of trading. Consequently, the market capitalisation rose to N91.286 trillion, up from N91.107 trillion the previous day.
Similarly, the All-Share Index advanced by 281.30 points or 0.20 per cent, closing at 143,520.53 compared to Thursday’s 143,239.23.
Market analysts attributed the upward movement to renewed interest in key stocks such as Ikeja Hotel, NGX Group, Academy Press, Omatek, Cadbury and several others. The market breadth remained positive, with 33 gainers against 21 losers, pushing the year-to-date return to 39.44 per cent.
Ikeja Hotel led the day’s top performers with a 10 per cent rise to N30.25, followed closely by NGX Group, which appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N56.20. Academy Press gained 9.70 per cent to close at N7.35, while Omatek Ventures rose 9.35 per cent to N1.17. Cadbury also extended its rally, climbing 8.63 per cent to N57.90 per share.
On the flip side, Abbey Mortgage Bank topped the losers’ chart, declining 10 per cent to N5.85. Meyer shed 9.97 per cent to close at N13.10, Sunu Assurances fell 9.89 per cent to N3.92, and Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped 9.09 per cent to N2.70. Linkage Assurance also dropped by 8.02 per cent to end the session at N1.72.