Banking, insurance and consumer stocks drive fresh market high as 1.59 billion shares change hands….
The Nigerian Exchange Limited closed Wednesday’s session at a fresh record, with total market capitalisation rising to N163.06 trillion as investors increased activity across several key stocks.
Market capitalisation gained N374.14 billion during the session, representing a 0.23 per cent increase from the N162.68 trillion recorded on Tuesday.
The advance came alongside a sharp increase in trading volume, with 1.59 billion shares worth of activity recorded across 49,736 deals.
The NGX All-Share Index also rose by 0.23 per cent, gaining 576.36 points to close at 251,191.02 points from 250,614.66 points.
The index’s performance marked its highest level for the trading week.
Trading volume jumped by 89.91 per cent from the 837.22 million shares recorded in the previous session, although the number of transactions fell by 4.45 per cent from 52,054 deals.
Main Board accounts for bulk of activity
The Main Board dominated the day’s trading, accounting for 1.46 billion shares traded in 31,617 deals.
The Premium Board followed with 113.01 million shares across 15,135 transactions.
The Non-Interest Finance Board recorded 8.01 million shares in 1,303 deals, while the Growth Board accounted for 5.54 million shares across 926 transactions.
REITs and Closed-End Funds recorded 3.21 million shares in 755 deals.
Outside the equities market, Exchange Traded Products recorded 422,765 units in 1,373 transactions, while the debt market recorded 11,119 bond units across nine deals.
Fortis Global Insurance Plc was the most actively traded stock of the session, accounting for 860.31 million shares across 164 deals.
Fidelity Bank Plc followed among the most actively traded banking stocks, with 170.72 million shares changing hands in 714 transactions.
GTCO recorded 86.19 million shares across 3,220 deals.
Other heavily traded stocks included Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc with 36.49 million shares, Chams Holding Company Plc with 35.34 million, Zenith Bank Plc with 32.86 million, E-Tranzact International Plc with 30.38 million and United Bank for Africa Plc with 29.01 million shares.
Banking and insurance stocks lead sector gains
Several major sectors closed higher as buying interest remained strong across financial and consumer-related stocks.
The NGX Banking Index rose to 2,748.63 points from 2,725.39 points, while the NGX Premium Index increased to 31,818.49 points from 31,679.41 points.
The insurance sector also recovered, with the NGX Insurance Index climbing to 1,093.23 points from 1,081.54 points.
The NGX Consumer Goods Index gained ground, rising to 4,092.56 points from 4,085.44 points.
The NGX Pension Index increased to 13,310.48 points, compared with 13,252.35 points previously, while the NGX Oil/Gas Index edged up to 6,014.43 points from 6,010.75 points.
The NGX Industrial Index was the notable laggard, slipping to 10,463.54 points from 10,479.35 points.
The decline was partly influenced by price movements in heavyweights including Dangote Cement Plc, which fell 0.12 per cent, and HBM Nigeria Plc, down 0.53 per cent.
On the growth segment, the NGX Growth Index rose to 26,695.68 points from 26,596.28 points.
The NGX Sovereign Bond Index remained unchanged at 669.43 points, while the NGX Commodity Index also held steady at 1,893.47 points.
43 stocks gain as 20 decline
Market breadth ended firmly positive, with 43 equities recording gains compared with 20 decliners.
Eterna Plc topped the gainers after rising by the maximum 10 per cent to N38.50 from N35.
Thomas Wyatt Nigeria Plc gained 9.88 per cent to N2.78, while Critical Minerals Financing Corp Plc advanced 9.76 per cent to N2.70.
Haldane McCall Plc gained 9.70 per cent, while Omatek Ventures Plc rose 9.63 per cent. John Holt Plc also advanced by 9.59 per cent.
Activity was similarly positive in the ETF segment, where seven funds gained against five decliners. Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 recorded the strongest gain, rising by 10 per cent.
On the decliners’ side, Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc recorded the biggest loss, falling 9.09 per cent to N4.
University Press Plc dropped 9 per cent to N4.55, while Coronation Insurance Plc, formerly WAPIC, declined 6.30 per cent to N2.23.
Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc lost 5.45 per cent to N1.04, while United Capital Plc fell 5 per cent to N17.10.
The fixed-income market remained stable, with no gainers or losers recorded among the listed debt and bond instruments.
Fresh record comes days after N162tn milestone
Wednesday’s record came less than a week after the NGX crossed the N162 trillion mark for the first time.
The latest milestone also extends the market’s recent upward trajectory after the exchange previously recorded an all-time high of N161.8 trillion on May 13.
The latest session was therefore marked by a combination of stronger trading volume, gains across major market sectors and broad-based advances among listed equities.
