Investors Gain ₦4.14tn as NGX Market Cap Hits ₦114.38tn
Investors raked in about ₦4.14tn in three trading sessions this week on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, pushing market capitalisation to ₦114.38tn by the close of trading on Wednesday.
Over the three days of trading, the All-Share Index also appreciated 3.76 per cent to 178,184.54 from 171,727.49 as of last Friday, signalling strong investor appetite and a sustained bullish trend.
On a sectoral basis, the NGX Banking Index reversed earlier softness on Monday to emerge as one of the key drivers of the rally. The index rose from 1,678.99 points on Monday to 1,736.81 points on Wednesday, representing a three-day gain of 57.82 points.
The NGX Insurance Index broke its lacklustre performance on Wednesday, closing at 1,317.73 after two days of 1,297.77 and 1,297.93, respectively, indicating fresh investor interest.
The NGX Oil and Gas Index advanced from 3,369.31 on Friday to 3,514.75 on Wednesday. The bulk of the gains were recorded between Monday and Tuesday, with the index holding firm into Wednesday’s session.
The NGX Consumer Goods Index rose from 4,144.67 on Friday to 4,235.49 on Wednesday, while the NGX Industrial Index increased from 6,246.92 to 6,734.23 over the same period, despite a marginal dip on Wednesday.
Overall, the market data indicated a broad-based rally cutting across banking, insurance, oil and gas, consumer goods, industrials and growth-orientated counters.
With the ASI now at a record 178,184.54 points and market capitalisation above N114tn, market watchers will be assessing whether momentum can be sustained in subsequent sessions, particularly in the context of prevailing macroeconomic conditions and interest rate dynamics.
Meanwhile, at the close of Wednesday’s trading, market sentiment was positive at 1.5x, with 49 gainers outpacing 32 losers. Consolidated Hallmark Holdings, Nestlé, Fortis Global Insurance and Meyer emerged as top performers, as their stocks gained the maximum 10 per cent. Newcomer Zichis Agros Allied Industries also featured in the gainers’ chart, recording a 9.98 per cent share appreciation.
On the losers’ table were Honeywell Flour (9.70 per cent), Neimeth (9.15 per cent), The Initiates Plc (5.81 per cent), RT Briscoe (5.70 per cent) and Sterling Financial HoldCo (5.56 per cent), whose shares recorded the largest losses.
The day’s sectoral activity was divergent: Banking led gains with a 1.58 per cent rally, followed by insurance rising 1.53 per cent, consumer goods increasing 1.28 per cent, and oil and gas edging up 0.02 per cent. In contrast, the industrial sector declined 0.02 per cent, while the commodity sector remained unchanged.
Daily trading metrics showed mixed results as share volume plunged 27.92 per cent to 939.15 million units and transaction value dropped 32.51 per cent to N34.03bn, while deal count grew 3.92 per cent to 61,279 transactions.