By Taiye Olayemi
Trading on the Nigerian stock market sustained its positive momentum on Wednesday, as investors gained N390 billion, marking the second consecutive day of bullish performance.
Market capitalisation increased by N390 billion, rising from N155.849 trillion in the previous session to N156.239 trillion.
In spite of the gains in market value, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 503.69 points, or 0.21 per cent, to close at 242,366.75, compared with 242,870.44 recorded on Tuesday.
The market’s Year-to-Date (YTD) return remained strong at 55.75 per cent.
Market breadth closed on a positive note, with 33 gainers against 18 losers, reflecting sustained buying interest in selected stocks.
First Holdco led the gainers’ chart by 9.98 per cent, closing at N79.35, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria trailed by 9.29 per cent, finishing at N2.94 and Legend Internet grew by 8.99 per cent, ending the session at N4.85 per share.
Tripple Gee gained by 8.96 per cent, settling at N3.89 and Mc Nicholas advanced by 8.70 per cent, closing at N5 per share.
On the flip side, Trans-Nationwide Express topped the losers’ chart by 9.85 per cent, settling at N3.02, International Breweries followed by 6.12 per cent, finishing at N13.05, while Haldane McCall dropped by 5.95 per cent, closing at N3.32 per share.
Also, Daar Communications declined by 5.68 per cent, ending the session at N1.66 and NGX Group shed by 4.38 per cent, finishing at N131.10 per share.
Meanwhile, market activity weakened as the total volume of shares traded declined to 453.17 million shares, valued at N27.16 billion, exchanged in 39,942 deals.
First Holdco emerged as the most actively traded stock by both volume and value, with 78.66 million shares worth N6.19 billion changing hands.
The transactions accounted for 16.51 per cent of the day’s total trading volume and 20.90 per cent of the total market value.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Remi Koleoso