By Boluwatife Oshadiya
Key Points
- NGX market capitalisation increased by ₦628.53 billion.
- Airtel Africa and Dangote Sugar led gains on the equities market.
- Banking, insurance and consumer goods sectors closed positive.
- Investor sentiment improved amid renewed buying interest in blue-chip stocks.
Main Story
The Nigerian stock market rebounded strongly on Wednesday as renewed investor appetite for medium- and large-cap equities pushed the benchmark index higher, with Airtel Africa and Dangote Sugar Refinery emerging among the top drivers of the rally.
The NGX All Share Index gained 979.36 basis points to close at 242,729.51, representing an increase of 0.41 per cent from the previous trading session.
Consequently, market capitalisation on the Nigerian Exchange rose by ₦628.53 billion to settle at ₦155.78 trillion.
Market analysts linked the positive performance to renewed buying interest across major sectors of the market, particularly among banking, industrial and consumer goods equities.
Other notable gainers included Wema Bank, First HoldCo and Vitafoam Nigeria.
According to trading data, total transaction volume increased by 11.57 per cent, although the overall value of transactions declined by 21 per cent.
Investment firm Atlass Portfolio Limited disclosed that investors traded approximately 1.41 billion shares valued at ₦59.43 billion across 85,804 deals during the session.
Banking Stocks Dominate Trading Activity
Access Holdings led the volume chart, accounting for 8.56 per cent of total shares traded.
Other actively traded equities included CHAMS, NSLTECH, Zenith Bank and Sterling Financial Holdings.
On the value chart, MTN Nigeria accounted for the largest share of traded value at 14.93 per cent.
Airtel Africa topped the gainers’ table with a 10 per cent appreciation in share price, followed closely by CAP, ZICHIS, RTBRSICOE, FTNCOCOA and DEAPCAP.
However, not all stocks closed positively during the trading session.
SUNU Assurance recorded the steepest decline after shedding 10 per cent of its market value. Guinness Nigeria, Caverton Offshore Support Group, FTG Insurance, May & Baker Nigeria and Linkage Assurance also posted losses.
Sector Performance Remains Broadly Positive
Sectoral performance closed largely in positive territory, with four of the major indices ending higher.
The Insurance Index rose by 0.62 per cent, while the Banking Index gained 0.51 per cent. The Consumer Goods and Industrial Goods indices also advanced by 0.26 per cent and 0.05 per cent respectively.
The gains were supported by price appreciation in AIICO Insurance, Wema Bank, Dangote Sugar and CAP Plc.
However, the Oil and Gas Index dipped marginally by 0.01 per cent following losses recorded by Oando Plc, while the Commodities Index closed flat.
What’s Next
Market analysts expect trading activities on the Nigerian Exchange to remain mixed in the coming sessions as investors continue profit-taking in selected counters while positioning for opportunities in fundamentally strong stocks.
Attention is also expected to remain on corporate earnings releases, macroeconomic indicators and developments in the foreign exchange market, which could shape investor sentiment in the near term.
