Following the Easter holidays, the Nigerian stock market bounced back with a N239 billion gain in market capitalization, driven by renewed interest in banking and consumer goods stocks

The Nigerian equities market witnessed a positive turnaround on Thursday, with investors gaining a substantial N239 billion in market capitalization. This recovery follows losses recorded in previous sessions after a four-day trading week due to the Easter public holidays.

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Data from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) revealed that market capitalization climbed to N65.5 trillion from Wednesday’s N65.26 trillion. The All-Share Index (ASI) also experienced significant growth, advancing by 390.52 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 104,242.40.

This upswing was primarily fueled by renewed investor interest in specific banking and consumer goods stocks. Abbey Mortgage Bank emerged as the top performer, soaring by 9.94 percent to close at N8.96 per share.

Nigerian Breweries followed closely with a 9.86 percent increase, settling at N36.20. Other notable gainers included Associated Bus Company (up 9.23 percent) and Livestock Feeds (up 9.2 percent). Ecobank Transnational Incorporated also contributed to the positive momentum.

Conversely, some stocks experienced losses. Sunu Assurances Nigeria led the decliners with a 9.91 percent drop to N5.00 per share. Ellah Lakes followed with a 9.76 percent decrease, while Cornerstone Insurance and Sovereign Trust Insurance recorded declines of 9.44 percent and 9.18 percent, respectively.

“Market analysts attributed the rebound to bargain hunting in fundamentally strong stocks as investors positioned for earnings reports and corporate actions in the second quarter.”

In terms of trading activity, Universal Insurance recorded the highest volume of shares traded with 89.3 million units. Fidelity Bank followed with 49.5 million shares, Access Holdings with 32.9 million, and Zenith Bank with 15.6 million.

Overall, market volume increased by 7 percent, with 376.29 million shares valued at N7.91 billion exchanged in 11,204 deals. However, the value of traded shares declined by 42 percent, and the number of deals decreased by 8 percent compared to the previous trading day.

Sectoral performance was largely positive, with the Banking Index gaining 1.33 percent and the Consumer Goods Index rising by 1.24 percent. The Pension Index also saw an increase of 0.85 percent, and the Oil & Gas Index added 0.44 percent.

Despite Thursday’s rally, the market recorded a marginal weekly loss of 0.52 percent and a four-week decline of 1.08 percent. Nevertheless, the year-to-date return remained positive at 1.28 percent, indicating underlying investor resilience.

Market analysts attributed the rebound to strategic bargain hunting in fundamentally strong stocks as investors position themselves ahead of anticipated earnings reports and corporate actions in the second quarter.

This positive session follows a reported reversal on Wednesday, April 16, where the Nigerian Exchange experienced losses due to a decline in banking stocks, particularly Guaranty Trust Holding Company and Zenith Bank.