The Nigerian Exchange Limited recorded a bullish trading session on Wednesday, as investors gained N186bn in market capitalisation, driven by buying interest in major consumer goods, banking, and oil and gas stocks.

At the session’s close, the All-Share Index rose by 296.72 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 109,059.33 points. This brought the total market capitalisation to N68.6tn, up from N68.4tn recorded in the previous session. The year-to-date return also improved to 5.96 per cent.

A total of 531.3m shares valued at N19.81bn were exchanged in 14,870 deals, reflecting a 7 per cent increase in volume and an 84 per cent surge in turnover compared to the previous day’s session.

In terms of market breadth, 128 equities participated in trading, with 34 gainers and 24 losers recorded. Northern Nigeria Flour Mills topped the gainers’ chart with a 10 per cent increase, closing at N99.55 per share. It was followed by McNichols, which also gained 10 per cent to close at N1.76, Champion Breweries with a 9.91 per cent gain to N6.10, and Caverton Offshore Support Group, which rose by 9.78 per cent to N4.04.

On the losing side, Multiverse Mining and Exploration led with a 9.63 per cent decline to close at N9.85. Other top losers included Legend Internet, which fell by 5.41 per cent to N8.40, Veritas Kapital Assurance down by 4.76 per cent to N1.00, and Transcorp Nigeria, which dropped by 4.65 per cent to N44.10.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company recorded the highest volume of traded shares at 53.3m, followed by Access Holdings with 51.9m, Fidelity Bank with 40.5m, and Nigerian Breweries with 35.8m shares.

Across sectoral indices, the Consumer Goods Index posted the highest gain of 2.91 per cent, followed by the Oil and Gas Index, which rose by 0.75 per cent. The Banking Index increased by 0.58 per cent, the Main Board Index by 0.38 per cent, the Top 30 Index by 0.22 per cent, and the Insurance Index by 0.19 per cent.

The PUNCH reported that the Nigerian Stock Exchange witnessed a significant rebound at the close of Tuesday’s trading session, with a remarkable N315bn gain in market capitalisation. The market closed at N68.4tn, driven largely by key players such as Oando, Chellarams, and Transcorp, all of which posted impressive gains.