Lagos: The stock market sustained its positive momentum on Wednesday, with a N245 billion gain in market capitalisation.
The market’s upward movement was driven by gains in equities such as Prestige Assurance, Veritas Kapital Assurance, First Holding Company, Lasaco Assurance, and 38 other stocks.
The market capitalisation increased by 0.26 per cent, adding N245 billion to investors’ portfolios as the market opened at N95.280 trillion and closed higher at N95.525 trillion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 0.26 per cent, advancing by 383.71 points to close at 149,842.82, compared to 149,459.11 recorded on Tuesday.
Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 45.58 per cent as the market breadth also closed positive with 42 gainers and 24 losers.
FG142037S2 led the gainers’ chart by 44.44 per cent, finishing at N130. First Holding Company and Lasaco Assurance rose by 10 per cent each, ending the session at N39.60 and N2.75 per share.
Veritas Kapital and Prestige Assurance also grew by 10 per cent each, closing at N1.76 and N1.65 per share, respectively.
On the other hand, Livingtrust Mortgage Bank led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, settling at N3.15; International Energy Insurance trailed by 9.92 per cent, closing at N2.27; while Mc Nicholas dropped by 6.90 per cent, finishing at N2.97 per share.
Omatek Ventures dipped by 6.84 per cent, closing at N1.09, and CHAMS fell by 6.41 per cent, settling at N2.92 per share.
An evaluation of market activity revealed overall growth in volume, value, and deals.
A total of 5.9 billion shares, valued at N216.2 billion, were traded in 25,205 transactions, compared with 1.03 billion shares valued at N21.8 billion in 23,701 transactions.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated recorded the highest volume and value, with 5.25 billion shares traded valued at N168.66 billion.
