The Nigerian Exchange closed Thursday on a strong note, rebounding with a N694 bn gain after a week of losses as investors returned to the market, driving selective gains across key sectors.

The NGX All-Share Index rose by 1,088.61 points, or 0.74 per cent, to close at 147,950.59, bringing the market’s year-to-date gain to 43.74 per cent. Sectoral performance was led by the NGX Insurance Index with a 2.99 per cent increase, followed by the NGX Premium Index, up 1.39 per cent, and the NGX Consumer Goods Index, up 1.15 per cent.

Market activity recorded 529,689,775 shares in 18,140 deals valued at N12,311,253,316.14. Although volume fell by 29 per cent and deals dropped by five per cent from the previous session, investors focused on high-liquidity stocks.

Access Holdings led in trading volume with 156,319,741 shares across 1,084 trades worth N3,163,864,929.05. Other top volume stocks included FCMB with 74,540,263 shares, Fidelity Bank with 42,938,271 shares, Japaul Gold and Ventures with 41,151,011 shares, and Zenith Bank with 20,328,514 shares.

In terms of value, Access Holdings also topped with N3,163,864,929.05, followed by Zenith Bank (N1,311,094,947.15), MTN Nigeria (N1,098,691,060.20), FCMB (N819,501,310.80), and Fidelity Bank (N812,701,125.15).

Berger Paints led the gainers with a 9.88 per cent increase to N40.05 per share, followed by Japaul Gold and Ventures at 9.88 per cent, Morison Industries at 9.77 per cent, and PZ Cussons at 9.36 per cent. John Holt recorded the largest decline, falling 9.26 per cent to N4.90 per share. Champion Breweries lost 7.86 per cent, Eterna 5.48 per cent, and VFD Group 5.07 per cent.

Analysts say the rebound reflects renewed confidence from retail investors, who are increasingly favouring insurance, consumer goods, and telecommunications stocks as the market stabilises after a volatile week.