The Nigerian Exchange experienced a N16.53bn gain on Monday, driven by strong performances from Tantaliser, Livestock Feeds, and Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals. Tantaliser saw an 8.89 per cent increase, Livestock Feeds rose by 8.18 per cent, and Neimeth climbed by 8.05 per cent.
By the end of trading, the market capitalization had increased slightly by 0.03 per cent to N56.95tn, up from N56.93tn on Friday. Similarly, the All Share Index rose by 0.03 per cent, closing at 100,568.60 points, compared to 100,539.40 points at the previous close. This led to a year-to-date return of 34.49 per cent.
Investors traded a total of 335,704,787 shares worth N3.72bn across 8,760 transactions. The market showed a bullish trend with 23 stocks gaining and 15 declining. However, trade volume fell by 79.89 per cent to 335.7 million shares, and the number of deals dropped to 8,760 from 9,988 on Friday.
Leading the losers were Caverton Offshore Support Group, Royalex Exchange Group, and Veritas Kapital Assurance, which fell by 9.68 per cent, 6.94 per cent, and 4.72 per cent, respectively, closing at N0.15 and N0.05. Ellah Lakes dominated in trade volume with 110.67 million shares worth N332.02m in 53 deals. Universal Insurance followed with 21.89 million shares valued at N7.48m in 46 trades. United Capital topped the value chart with N778.61bn in 984 deals, while Zenith Bank recorded N377.83bn in 389 trades.
Last week, the Nigerian equity market was in positive territory, with investors gaining N512bn. The market capitalization and All-Share Index increased by 0.87 per cent and 0.86 per cent, closing the week at N56.929tn and 100,539.40 points, respectively.