The Nigerian equities market extended its bullish momentum on Wednesday as renewed investor appetite for heavyweight stocks lifted market capitalisation by N1.45 trillion, or 0.50 per cent, to close at N97.58 trillion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index gained 2,279.34 points to settle at 153,736.25, up from 151,456.91 recorded on Tuesday, bringing the year-to-date return to 49.37 per cent — a reflection of sustained investor confidence.
The rally was driven largely by price appreciations in Aso Savings, Skyway Aviation Handling, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust, Nascon, and Dangote Cement.
Market breadth remained positive with 32 gainers and 31 losers at the close of trading.
Aso Savings led the gainers’ chart, rising 10 per cent to close at 55k, followed by Skyway Aviation Handling, which climbed 9.99 per cent to N99.05.
UPDC REIT gained 8.16 per cent to close at N7.95, while Nascon advanced 6.80 per cent to N110.00, and Dangote Cement rose 6.50 per cent to N639.00.
Conversely, The Initiates Plc led the losers with a 5.73 per cent decline to N13.00, followed by Legend Internet, which fell 5.69 per cent to N5.80.
Royal Exchange dipped 4.76 per cent to N2.20, Champion Breweries dropped 4.49 per cent to N14.90, and AXA Mansard lost 4.19 per cent to N16.00.
Market activity also improved, with trading volume rising 7 per cent, turnover up 17 per cent, and total deals increasing 4 per cent.
A total of 589.5 million shares valued at N24.01 billion were traded in 28,485 deals, compared with 551.92 million shares worth N20.54 billion in 27,518 deals the previous day.
Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 94.74 million shares worth N1.87 billion, followed by GTCO with 79.5 million shares valued at N7.4 billion.
Access Corporation traded 59.4 million shares worth N1.5 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 23.98 million shares valued at N1.62 billion, while Jaiz Bank traded 22.37 million shares worth N96.6 million.
