Lagos: The Nigerian stock market on Wednesday continued its bullish trend, adding N409 billion to investors’ portfolios, according to figures from the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. This upward movement was fueled by renewed investor interest in stocks such as Okomu Oil, Union Dicon Salt, Seplat, NCR Nigeria, Mc Nicholas, among others.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the NGX market capitalisation began at N102.275 trillion and saw an increase of N409 billion, or 0.40 per cent, to close at N102.684 trillion. The All-Share Index also experienced a rise, gaining 640.68 points to close at 160,591.76, up from 159,951.08 on Tuesday. Despite these gains, market breadth was negative, with 38 stocks declining and 35 advancing.
Leading the list of losers, Cadbury’s stock fell by 10 per cent to close at N63. Austinlaz followed closely, dropping 9.93 per cent to end at N5.08. Aluminium Extrusion Industries declined by 9.91 per cent to N19.55, while Haldane McCall dropped 9.85 per cent to N4.21. FTN Cocoa Processors also saw a decrease of 9.62 per cent, settling at N6.01 per share.
On the other hand, Seplat Energy, Okomu Oil, and Union Dicon Salt each rose by 10 per cent, closing at N6,171, N1,204.50, and N8.80 respectively. NCR Nigeria advanced by 9.97 per cent to N79.95, while Mc Nicholas gained 9.93 per cent to close at N4.76.
An analysis of market activity indicated an increase in volume and value, although the number of transactions declined. In total, 1.44 billion shares valued at N20.7 billion were traded in 49,286 deals, compared to 758.9 million shares worth N19.9 billion in 54,212 deals on Tuesday. Universal Insurance topped the volume activity with 804.11 million shares, accounting for 55.82 per cent of the total volume traded. Seplat Energy led the value chart with trades worth N3.50 billion, representing 16.90 per cent of the day’s total value.