By TAIYE OLAYEMI

The stock market on Thursday sustained its upward trend, with market capitalisation rising by N138 billion, or 0.13 per cent, to close at N102.822 trillion.

The benchmark opened trading at N102.684 trillion, reflecting continued investor confidence and extending the market’s positive momentum.

Thursday’s performance marked the 19th consecutive bullish session on the Nigerian Exchange, underscoring persistent buying interest across selected stocks.

Gains in Neimeth International Pharmaceutical, May and Baker, Etranzact International, Multiverse Mining, Mecure and 27 other stocks lifted the market into positive territory.

The All-Share Index advanced by 214.80 points, or 0.13 per cent, closing at 160,806.56 from 160,591.76 recorded on Wednesday.

In spite of the overall gain, market breadth closed negative, with 41 decliners outweighing 32 advancers at the end of trading.

International Energy Insurance led the losers, shedding 9.90 per cent to close at N2.73 per share.

ABC Transport followed, dropping by 9.88 per cent to end the session at N4.47 per share.

Austinlaz declined by 9.84 per cent, closing at N4.58 per share after sustained selling pressure.

Conoil also dipped by 9.72 per cent, settling at N169 per share during the trading session.

Veritas Kapital Assurance lost 9.69 per cent, closing at N1.77 per share on the Nigerian Exchange.

On the gainers’ table, Neimeth International Pharmaceutical topped the chart, appreciating by 10 per cent to close at N7.70.

May and Baker followed closely, rising by 9.85 per cent to finish trading at N26.20 per share.

Etranzact International gained 9.64 per cent, closing at N13.65 per share after strong demand.

Multiverse Mining advanced by 9.51 per cent, ending the session at N21.30 per share.

Mecure appreciated by 9.42 per cent, closing at N74.95 per share at the end of trading.

Market activity declined, as investors traded 645.06 million shares valued at N16.4 billion in 44,410 transactions.

This compared with 1.44 billion shares worth N20.7 billion exchanged in 49,286 deals recorded during Wednesday’s session.

Chams led trading by volume, exchanging 60.5 million shares valued at N236.8 million.

Linkage Assurance followed with 54.1 million shares worth N97.6 million traded during the session. Tantalizer recorded 44.9 million shares traded, valued at N129.7 million.

Access Corporation traded 35.5 million shares valued at N815.4 million on the exchange. Champion Breweries also featured, with 31.3 million shares worth N519.1 million exchanged.

Zenith Bank recorded the highest value traded at N1.51 billion, accounting for 9.15 per cent of total market value.

Commenting on the session, a market analyst said: “The sustained rally reflects selective positioning by investors, despite declining volumes and cautious sentiment in some sectors.” (NAN)

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