Equities trading on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Group Limited (NGX) sustained a positive momentum for the third consecutive session this week, with key indicators closing higher on Wednesday.
The benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) gained 268.98 basis points, or 0.19 per cent, to close at 142,979.46 points, compared to 142,710.48 points recorded the previous day. This reflects a one-week gain of 1.61 per cent, a four-week gain of 3.03 per cent, and an impressive year-to-date return of 38.91 per cent.
Similarly, the market capitalisation of listed equities appreciated by ₦170 billion to close at ₦90.751 trillion, up from ₦90.580 trillion on Tuesday.
Commenting on the sustained rally, a market analyst said, “The positive sentiment reflects renewed investor confidence in the resilience of the Nigerian equities market despite macroeconomic pressures.”
Performance across sectoral indices also showed strength. The NGX Insurance Index advanced by 0.42 per cent, the NGX Consumer Goods Index rose by 0.35 per cent, the NGX Main Board Index gained 0.25 per cent, the NGX Pension Index improved by 0.2 per cent, and the NGX Banking Index was up by 0.17 per cent.
Trading activity showed that a total of 785.34 million units of shares were exchanged in 32,669 deals, valued at ₦29.39 billion. Compared with the previous trading day, volume dropped by 37 per cent, turnover declined by 1 per cent, but the number of deals rose by 17 per cent.
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Out of 130 listed equities that participated in trading, 34 recorded price gains while 26 declined. PZ Cussons Nigeria led the gainers’ chart with a 10 per cent increase to close at ₦37.95 per share, followed by Eterna (+9.94%), Champion Breweries (+9.82%), and Tantalizers (+5.96%).
On the other hand, RT Briscoe posted the heaviest loss of 9.89 per cent to close at ₦3.37 per share, while Thomas Wyatt Nigeria dropped 9.82 per cent, Sovereign Trust Insurance shed 9.33 per cent, and International Energy Insurance declined by 7.78 per cent.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) led in trading volume with 152 million shares, followed by Wema Bank (152 million), FBN Holdings (112 million), and Zenith Bank (47.1 million).
A Lagos-based stockbroker noted, “Investors are increasingly rotating funds into fundamentally sound stocks, which explains the broad-based performance across sectors.”
