The equities market closed the week on Friday with a substantial gain of N946 billion.

This positive movement was attributed to sustained investor interest in medium and large capitalised stocks.

Market capitalisation, a key measure of the market’s value, grew by N946 billion, which represents a one per cent increase. It closed the session at N95.264 trillion, up from N94.318 trillion recorded on Thursday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index increased by 1,482.67 points. This also represents a one per cent climb, with the index closing at 149,433.26, an increase from 147,950.59 recorded previously.

The year-to-date return saw an increase of 45.18 per cent. The overall market breadth was positive, with 30 stocks gaining and 23 stocks losing value.

Guinness Nigeria emerged as the top gainer, recording a 10 per cent appreciation, settling at N217.80 per share. Morison followed closely, gaining 9.84 per cent to close at N4.69, and Champion Breweries increased by 9.69 per cent, finishing the day at N14.15 per share.

Austinlaz also performed well, growing by 9.66 per cent and ending the session at N2.27. Cileasing rounded out the significant gainers, as it “soared by 9.62 per cent, closing at N5.70 per share.”

Conversely, Etranzact led the losers’ chart, “finishing at N12.60” after shedding 10 per cent of its value. Chellaram trailed this drop by 9.90 per cent, ending the session at N13.20. Eunisell Interlinked dropped by 9.89 per cent, closing at N75.15 per share.

Africa Prudential fell by 9.77 per cent, settling at N12. Daar Communications shed 9.18 per cent, “finishing at 89k per share.”

The market witnessed overall growth across the volume, value, and number of deals. A total of 571.7 million shares valued at N29.04 billion were traded in 20,418 transactions.

This trading activity marks a significant contrast to the 529.7 million shares worth N12.3 billion that were exchanged across 18,159 deals earlier in the period.

Access Corporation was the most traded stock by volume, with 106.07 million shares exchanged. Transpower closed the session with the highest value of shares traded, amounting to N13.13 billion.