December 03, (THEWILL) — The Nigerian equity market closed positively today as sustained buying interest across several large and mid-cap counters lifted both the Market Capitalisation and the All-Share Index (ASI).
Market Capitalisation opened at N92.376 trillion and closed higher at N92.628 trillion, reflecting improved liquidity and stronger demand from investors.
Similarly, the ASI rose from 144,928.36 to 145,323.87, signalling a broad-based bullish performance.
Overall, the market posted a total of 30 gainers and 16 losers, underscoring a healthy market breadth in favour of the bulls.
Top gainers
- GUINNESS 10.00 percent (N180.00 → N198.00)
- NCR 9.98 percent (N66.10 → N72.70)
- NGXGROUP 9.96 percent (N56.20 → N61.80)
- MULTIVERSE 9.95 percent (N10.05 → N11.05)
- SKYAVN 9.74 percent (N80.60 → N88.45)
Top losers
- VERITASKAP-4.47 percent (N1.79 → N1.71)
- LASACO -3.77 percent (N2.65 → N2.55)
- PRESTIGE -3.03 percent (N1.65 → N1.60)
- ROYALEX -2.56 percent (N1.95 → N1.90)
- ETI -1.88 percent (N34.65 → N34.00)
Unchanged stocks
Dangote Cement, Lafarge Africa, Seplat, Custodian Investment, and Transnational Corporation.
Investor sentiment
Investor sentiment was strongly positive, supported by renewed confidence in major consumer goods, industrial, and aviation counters. The sharp rally in GUINNESS, NCR, NGXGROUP, and SKYAVN signalled heightened demand from institutional and retail investors positioning ahead of year-end portfolio adjustments.
Market participants took advantage of attractive entry points in select growth stocks, while the low number of decliners reflects subdued selling pressure. Investors also appeared more willing to extend risk exposure, buoyed by improving liquidity and renewed optimism around fourth-quarter earnings prospects.
Performance drivers
- Sustained buy-side pressure in large-cap stocks provided strong upward momentum for the ASI.
- Improved liquidity conditions helped deepen market participation, especially in consumer goods and industrial sectors.
- Sector-wide rotation continued, with investors favouring companies perceived to have strong end-of-year fundamentals.
- Market stability signals from unchanged heavyweights like Dangote Cement and Seplat helped maintain confidence in the broader market structure
Outlook
The market is expected to remain bullish to mildly positive as bargain hunters continue to show interest in fundamentally strong counters. Momentum from today’s rally could spill into the next session, particularly if institutional players sustain their positioning activities.
However, mild profit-taking may surface in some top gainers, especially those that posted near-limit price appreciation today. Overall, sentiment remains favourable, and short-term market direction is likely to trend upward barring unexpected macroeconomic shocks.
Ogochukwu Onwaeze
