Equities on the Lagos bourse edged higher as the benchmark index advanced by 0.61% to close at 54,646.38 points, the highest level since 15 July 2008. Gains in BUAFOODS (+8.87%), WAPCO (+1.18%) as well as Tier-1 banking names, ZENITHBANK (+0.60%), GTCO (+-0.40%) and FBNH (+0.43%) drove the market’s overall performance. The gain puts the index on track for a weekly gain. The year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 6.62%, while market capitalization gained ₦180.23bn to close at ₦29.77trn.
Analysis of Thursday’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 52.92%. A total of 142.04m shares valued at ₦1.85bn were exchanged in 2,651 deals. UBA (+0.60%) led the volume chart with 32.42m units traded while ZENITHBANK (+0.60%) led the value chart in deals worth ₦11.53m.
Market breadth closed positive at a 3.5-to-1 ratio with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones. BUAFOODS (+8.87%) topped twenty (20) others on the leader’s log while NEIMETH (-6.45%) led five (5) others on the leader’s table.
