The Nigerian stock market sustained its bullish momentum on Wednesday, closing on a positive note as key performance indicators rose by 0.70 percent. The All-Share Index (ASI) climbed by 1,017.49 points to end the trading session at 145,813.86, compared to 144,796.37 recorded the previous day. This upward trend was largely attributed to a surge in investor confidence, reflected in increased buying activity and bargain hunting, particularly in medium- and large-cap stocks.
Market sentiment remained optimistic, with 54 equities recording gains while 26 posted losses, indicating a positive market breadth. Among the top-performing stocks, Guinness Nigeria Plc and Meyer Plc saw significant price increases of 10 percent each, closing at N128.75 and N18.15 per share, respectively. Learn Africa and AXA Mansard followed the same trend, both appreciating by 10 percent to settle at N6.27 and N12.10 per share, respectively. Mutual Benefits Assurance also closed the day with a 10 percent gain, ending at N2.42 per share.
On the other hand, UAC of Nigeria led the list of decliners, falling by 10 percent to N90 per share. UH Real Estate Investment Trust also recorded a 10 percent drop, closing at N57.60. NGX Group declined by 10 percent to N63, while Livingtrust Mortgage Bank shed 9.93 percent to end the day at N5.35. Multiverse Mining lost 9.68 percent, closing at N9.80 per share.
Trading activity surged significantly, with investors transacting 2.69 billion shares valued at N32.63 billion across 35,137 deals. This represented a sharp increase from Tuesday’s session, where 1.03 billion shares worth N22.9 billion were exchanged in 38,932 deals. Consolidated Hallmark Holdings Plc dominated the volume chart with 1.02 billion shares traded for a total value of N2.67 billion. Linkage Assurance followed closely, trading 562.32 million shares worth N978.4 million. Sterling Nigeria accounted for 183.77 million shares valued at N1.49 billion, while AIICO Insurance moved 90.7 million shares worth N262.98 million. Zenith Bank also featured among the top traded stocks, with 60.35 million shares exchanged at a value of N4.55 billion.