On Wednesday, the equities market maintained its positive trajectory as investors made gains of N131 billion thanks to increases in the prices of 26 other stocks as well as shares of Cornerstone Insurance, RT Briscoe Nigeria, Industrial and Medical Gases, and other companies.
Due to the robust momentum in financial equities, trading on the local exchange has been optimistic over the past two days.
The All-Share Index and the market capitalization of the exchange both increased by 0.23 percent at the close of trading to close at N56.74tn and 100,299.48 basis points, respectively.
Positive market mood was evident in the 29 winners and 19 losers.
Cornerstone Insurance, RT Briscoe Nigeria, and Industrial and Medical Gas witnessed the biggest increases on the chart, closing at N2.29, N0.70, and N13.00, respectively, with gains of 9.57 percent, 9.38 percent, and 9.34 percent.
The top three losers on the chart were Omatek Ventures, which dropped 5.80 percent to close at N0.65 per unit, University Press, which lost 2.25 percent to close at N10, and Daar Communications, which lost 5.88 percent to close at N0.48.
The largest traded volume was 137.64 million shares, followed by AIICO Insurance with 14.92 million shares and Universal Insurance with 21.23 million shares. Fidelity Bank is looking to raise N127 billion through a rights issue and public offer.
Overall sector performance was strong, with the exception of the oil and gas industry, which saw little growth.
Positive investor optimism was evident in the banking and insurance sectors, which saw advances of 1.71 percent and 2.67 percent, respectively. The consumer and industrial goods sectors came next, with modest improvements of 0.03 and 0.17 percent respectively as a result of favourable pricing developments within the sectors.
