Investors on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) pocketed a remarkable N4.14 trillion in just three trading days this week, pushing the market’s capitalization to a record N114.38 trillion by Wednesday’s close. The All-Share Index (ASI) surged 3.76 per cent to 178,184.54 points, up from 171,727.49 points at the end of last week, signaling renewed investor confidence and a strong bullish trend.
The rally was driven by notable sectoral performances. The NGX Banking Index, which had shown early weakness on Monday, rebounded strongly to close at 1,736.81 points on Wednesday, recording a three-day gain of 57.82 points. Meanwhile, the NGX Insurance Index broke from two days of stagnation to reach 1,317.73 points, reflecting growing investor interest in the sector.
Other key sectors mirrored this optimism. The NGX Oil & Gas Index rose from 3,369.31 on Friday to 3,514.75 by Wednesday, with the bulk of gains recorded between Monday and Tuesday. Similarly, the NGX Consumer Goods Index climbed to 4,235.49 points, and the Industrial Index increased to 6,734.23, despite a slight dip on Wednesday. Analysts noted that this broad-based rally cut across banking, insurance, oil & gas, consumer goods, industrials, and growth-oriented counters.
Investor sentiment remained strong, with 49 gainers outpacing 32 losers on Wednesday. Stocks like Consolidated Hallmark Holdings, Nestlé, Fortis Global Insurance, and Meyer hit the maximum 10 per cent gain, while newcomer Zichis Agros Allied Industries surged 9.98 per cent. On the other hand, Honeywell Flour, Neimeth, and Sterling Financial HoldCo were among the top losers, recording declines between 5.56 and 9.70 per cent.
Despite the rally, daily trading activity showed mixed signals: share volume dropped nearly 28 per cent to 939.15 million units, and transaction value fell 32.5 per cent to N34.03 billion, while deal count grew slightly by 3.92 per cent to 61,279 transactions. Market watchers are now closely monitoring whether the current momentum can be sustained amid ongoing macroeconomic challenges and interest rate considerations.
source: punch