The stock market sustained its upward trend on Wednesday as market capitalisation rose by N1.446 trillion or 0.50 per cent to close at N97.580 trillion.
The growth was driven by renewed investor interest in heavyweight stocks such as Aso Savings, Skyway Aviation Handling, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust, Nascon and Dangote Cement.
The All-Share Index also appreciated by 0.50 per cent or 2,279.34 points to close at 153,736.25, compared to 151,456.91 posted on Tuesday.
Consequently, the year-to-date return increased to 49.37 per cent, reflecting sustained investor confidence in the equities market.
Market breadth remained positive with 32 gainers and 31 losers recorded at the close of trading.
Aso Savings led the gainers’ chart, appreciating by 10 per cent to close at 55k, followed by Skyway Aviation Handling, which rose 9.99 per cent to N99.05.
UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust gained 8.16 per cent to close at N7.95, while Nascon increased 6.80 per cent to N110.00 and Dangote Cement rose 6.50 per cent to N639.00.
Conversely, the Initiates led the losers’ table with a 5.73 per cent decline to N13.00, followed by Legend Internet, which fell 5.69 per cent to N5.80.
Royal Exchange dropped 4.76 per cent to N2.20, Champion Breweries fell 4.49 per cent to N14.90, while AXA Mansard declined 4.19 per cent to N16.00.
Market activity improved overall with a 7 per cent rise in volume, 17 per cent growth in turnover, and a 4 per cent increase in total deals.
A total of 589.5 million shares worth N24.01 billion were exchanged in 28,485 deals, compared with 551.92 million shares valued at N20.54 billion in 27,518 deals previously.
Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 94.74 million shares worth N1.87 billion, followed by GTCO with 79.5 million shares valued at N7.4 billion.
Access Corporation traded 59.4 million shares worth N1.5 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 23.98 million shares valued at N1.62 billion, while Jaiz Bank traded 22.37 million shares worth N96.6 million.
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