Trading on the Nigerian Exchange closed on a positive note on Wednesday as renewed buying interest in major stocks pushed market capitalisation higher by ₦628.53 billion.
The rally was driven largely by gains in shares of Airtel Africa and Dangote Sugar Refinery, alongside other medium and large-cap stocks.
The NGX all-share Index rose by 979.36 points, representing a 0.41 per cent increase, to close at 242,729.51 basis points. Market capitalisation also climbed to ₦155.78 trillion.
Market analysts said the positive outing reflected renewed investor confidence, with buying interest recorded across key sectors of the market.
Stocks that posted notable gains included AIRTELAFRI, DANGSUGAR, WEMABANK, FIRSTHOLDCO and VITAFOAM.
Data from the trading session showed that total volume traded increased by 11.57 per cent, although the value of transactions declined by 21 per cent.
According to Atlass Portfolio Limited, investors traded about 1.41 billion shares valued at ₦59.43 billion across 85,804 deals.
Access Holdings led the volume chart with 8.56 per cent of total traded shares, followed by CHAMS, NSLTECH, Zenith Bank and STERLINGNG.
On the value chart, MTN Nigeria accounted for 14.93 per cent of total transactions.
AIRTELAFRI topped the gainers’ table with a 10 per cent appreciation, while CAP, ZICHIS, RTBRSICOE, FTNCOCOA and DEAPCAP also recorded strong gains.
On the losers’ chart, SUNUASSUR declined by 10 per cent, followed by Guinness Nigeria, CAVERTON, FTGINSURE, MAYBAKER and LINKASSURE.
Market breadth closed positive with 47 gainers against 22 losers.
Sectoral performance was largely bullish, with the Insurance, Banking, Consumer Goods and Industrial Goods indices recording gains, supported by stocks such as AIICO, WEMABANK, DANGSUGAR and CAP.
However, the Oil and Gas index closed marginally lower after losses recorded by Oando Plc, while the Commodities index ended flat.