The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed Wednesday’s trading session firmly in positive territory, buoyed by renewed investor appetite for stocks that had suffered heavy selloffs in recent sessions. The rebound was largely driven by bargain-hunting activities across several sectors, as market participants repositioned ahead of and in response to ongoing corporate earnings releases.
Market performance indicators showed a broad-based recovery, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) advancing by 1.28 percent to settle at 168,030.18 points. The upward movement was underpinned by strong price appreciation in counters such as Berger Paints, Daar Communications, FTN Insurance, R.T. Briscoe, and First HoldCo, which attracted fresh buying interest.
In line with the positive market direction, total market capitalisation expanded by ₦1.37 trillion, representing a 1.28 percent increase, to close at ₦107.86 trillion. Investor sentiment remained clearly bullish, with market breadth reflecting twice as many gainers as losers. A total of 53 equities recorded price appreciation, while 26 stocks ended the session in negative territory.
Daar Communications, R.T. Briscoe, and Berger Paints emerged as the session’s top gainers, each posting the maximum daily increase of 10.00 percent. On the losing side, Red Star Express led the decliners with a 9.97 percent drop, followed closely by Deap Capital Management & Trust and UACN Property Development Company, which fell by 9.97 percent and 9.95 percent, respectively.
Despite the strong price performance, overall trading activity weakened during the session. Total share volume declined by 5.66 percent to 694.79 million units, while the total value of traded equities dropped by 16.61 percent to ₦20.57 billion. The number of executed deals also fell by 8.54 percent, closing at 42,095 transactions.
A breakdown of trading activity showed that Chams Holding Company led the volume chart, with investors exchanging 57.44 million shares during the session. Seplat Energy topped the value table, accounting for ₦2.56 billion worth of trades, according to official data released by the Nigerian Exchange.
Sectoral performance was predominantly positive, reflecting widespread recovery across the market. The Banking index recorded the strongest gain, rising by 2.33 percent, followed by the Oil and Gas index, which advanced by 1.52 percent. The Industrial Goods index climbed by 1.20 percent, while Consumer Goods and Commodity indices rose by 1.09 percent and 0.82 percent, respectively. In contrast, the Insurance index closed in negative territory, shedding 0.84 percent.
 closed Wednesday’s trading session firmly in positive territory, buoyed by renewed investor appetite for stocks that had suffered heavy selloffs in recent sessions. The rebound was largely driven by bargain-hunting activities across several sectors, as market participants repositioned ahead of and in response to ongoing corporate earnings releases.){kind=link}