Nigeria's equities market extended its bullish run on Wednesday, posting a third consecutive positive session as renewed buying interest in banking, consumer and selected blue-chip stocks pushed the benchmark index further above the 250,000-point mark. The NGX All-Share Index rose 0.23 per cent to close at 251,191.02 points, lifting its month-to-date gain to 2.9 per cent and year-to-date return to 61.4 per cent.
The advance was driven largely by gains in heavyweight stocks, with Nigerian Aviation Handling Company emerging as the strongest contributor among the major gainers after rising 7.7 per cent. NASCON Allied Industries gained 4.2 per cent, Zenith Bank 2.3 per cent, First HoldCo 1.4 per cent and MTN Nigeria Communications 0.6 per cent.
Trading activity also accelerated sharply, with total volume surging 89.9 per cent to 1.59 billion shares, compared with the previous session. The transactions were valued at N45.82 billion and executed in 49,836 deals. Financial Services remained a major area of activity, although FTG Insurance dominated the volume chart with 860.31 million shares traded.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company led by value, accounting for transactions worth N11.85 billion. The strong market activity comes against the backdrop of increased attention on Nigerian equities following the country's return to the FTSE Russell Frontier Market indexes, which became effective on September 21.
Major Nigerian stocks, including Zenith Bank, GTCO, First HoldCo, MTN Nigeria and Dangote Cement, had attracted heightened trading interest around the reclassification. Sectoral performance was mixed, although four of the five monitored sectors closed higher. The Insurance Index led the sectoral advance, gaining 1.1 per cent, followed by the Banking Index, which rose 0.9 per cent.
The Consumer Goods Index advanced 0.2 per cent, while Oil & Gas added 0.1 per cent. The Industrial Goods Index, however, tempered the broader positive trend, declining 0.2 per cent. Market breadth further underscored the strength of buying interest, with 43 stocks gaining against 20 decliners, translating to a positive breadth ratio of 2.2x.
Eterna topped the gainers' table, rising 10 per cent, while Thomas Wyatt Nigeria appreciated 9.9 per cent. On the downside, Caverton Offshore Support Group fell 9.1 per cent, while UACN Property Development Company declined 9 per cent. With the ASI now firmly above 251,000 points and the year-to-date gain above 61 per cent, the latest session underscores the sustained strength of the domestic equities market.
Key points
- The NGX All-Share Index rose 0.23 per cent to close at 251,191.02 points.
- Trading activity surged 89.9 per cent to 1.59 billion shares.
- The market's year-to-date return is now 61.4 per cent.
