Lagos: Investors on the Nigerian stock market gained N5.554 trillion on Wednesday as the market closed bullish, driven by renewed investor optimism following the Central Bank of Nigeria‘s recent policy adjustments and positive macroeconomic data.
The rally was driven by rising investor interest in high- and mid-cap stocks such as Airtel Africa, Zichis Agro Allied Industries, UAC of Nigeria, CAP, and Jaiz Bank.
This surge followed strong earnings, new monetary policies, and sector news, especially in telecommunications and banking, boosting confidence and market activity.
Market capitalisation increased by 3.77 per cent, rising from N147.174 trillion to N152.728 trillion.
The All-Share Index advanced from 228,579.80 to 237,205.59, mirroring the 3.77 per cent gain.
While the Year-to-Date return grew by 52.43 per cent, the market breadth closed positive with 50 gainers against 43 losers.
Airtel Africa, UAC of Nigeria, CAP and Zichis Agro Allied Industries led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, settling at N3,021.30, N165, N132 and N19.80 per share respectively.
Jaiz Bank soared by 9.99 per cent, ending the session at N8.81 per share.
On the flip side, Cadbury and John Holt led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each, finishing at N66.15 and N12.60 per share respectively.
Also, E-Tranzact declined by 9.97 per cent, finishing at N15.80; Morison dipped by 9.92 per cent, settling at N10.62; while Haldane McCall shed by 9.74 per cent, closing at N3.43 per share.
A total of 1.33 billion shares valued at N69.09 billion were traded across 83,445 transactions, compared to 907.9 million shares worth N68.24 billion that were traded earlier on Tuesday across 72,886 deals.
This reflected a broad increase in market activity.
Access Corporation led the market in both volume and value, with 281.31 million shares traded worth N7.29 billion, representing 21.09 per cent and 10.55 per cent of the day’s total volume and value, respectively.
Commenting on the bullish session, Mr David Adonri, Vice President of Highcap Securities, said the upward trend was largely influenced by the performance of highly capitalised stocks.
He explained that the movement of these stocks significantly shaped the market’s direction. Drive the overall market trend.
Referring to the day’s market movement, Adonri commented, “Today’s maximum 10 per cent increase in Airtel Africa shares substantially contributed to the market’s overall upward movement.”
Banking stocks, which had declined the previous session, rebounded on Wednesday.
He specifically mentioned, “Stocks like GTCO, Zenith Bank, WAPCO and UBA all posted recoveries,” highlighting which banks experienced rebounds.
Adonri concluded that highly capitalised and mid-cap stocks set the tone for the rally, with telecommunications and banking sectors leading gains, alongside agriculture and consumer goods.
Airtel Africa and Zichis Agro Allied Industries notably strengthened market momentum.
