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The Nigerian equities market closed the mid-week trading session bullish on Wednesday, as an aggressive wave of bargain hunting wiped out earlier performance jitters and drove market valuation to historic highs.
The total market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) crossed a significant threshold to peak at N155.59tn. Concurrently, the benchmark All-Share Index witnessed an impressive climb, closing at an all-time high of 242,459.98 points, up from Tuesday’s position of 237,083.28 points.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision to maintain its Monetary Policy Rate at 26.50 per cent provided much-needed stability for the financial markets. This status quo gave domestic and institutional investors a clear economic backdrop, encouraging them to aggressively deploy capital into growth and blue-chip equities.
The market’s upward trajectory has been unrelenting over recent sessions, recovering aggressively from a low of 224,321.97 points recorded on Thursday, 2 July, and steadily climbing past 229,240.34 points on Friday, 234,178.23 points on Monday, and 237,083.28 points on Tuesday.
Buying sentiment during the session was overwhelmingly positive, heavily supported by substantial interest in the industrial, banking, and energy sectors. Reflecting this momentum, the NGX Main-Board Index closed higher at 11,355.52 points, bouncing up from its earlier positions in the week.
Similarly, the NGX Industrial Index advanced further to close at 10,712.92 points. The banking sector also drew massive interest, pushing the NGX Banking Index to finish strong at 2,137.61 points.
Meanwhile, the NGX Oil/Gas Index demonstrated immense strength, leaping to close the session at 5,292.70 points.
Market performance earlier in the week laid down a highly competitive tone for top-tier equities, laying the groundwork for Wednesday’s heights. FBN Holdings and Wema Bank led an advancing group of 54 equities, both maximising the daily allowable appreciation limits with a full 10.00 per cent gain to close at N60.50 and N29.70, respectively.
Energy heavyweight ARADEL followed closely, jumping 9.99 per cent (an increase of N127.50) to settle at N1,403.30 per share. NGXGROUP also moved up significantly by 9.96 per cent to finish at N129.75, while industrial giant Dangote Cement featured prominently among the top gainers, adding 8.08 per cent to scale up to N963.00.
Conversely, the bears held onto a few counters, exerting severe pressure on select manufacturing and logistics stocks. Aviation cargo handler NAHCO and manufacturing icon Vitafoam experienced strong selling pressure, with both equities shedding the maximum daily allowable 10.00 per cent to close at N133.65 and N170.10, respectively. Chemical and Allied Products followed a similar downward trajectory, dipping by 9.99 per cent to close the session at N157.60.
In the Exchange-Traded Funds ecosystem, VSPBONDETF recorded the best single-day run, advancing 6.81 per cent to finish at N251.00.
On the losing end of the fund market, STANBICETF30 suffered a severe 10.00 per cent knock, dropping down to N2,587.95. The fixed income market observed a completely quiet profile, with institutional investors holding asset weights steady as the NGX Sovereign Bond Index remained unchanged, closing flat at 670.45 points.
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