The Nigerian equity market recorded N167bn gain on Wednesday buoyed by AustinLaz & Company, Tantalizers, Wapco, and other gainers.

The All-Share Index and market capitalisation rose by 0.26 per cent, to close at 98,227.50 points N59.5tn respectively.

This brought the market’s year-to-date gain to 31.37 per cent, despite a 0.72 per cent loss over the past four weeks.

The day’s trading saw an increase in activity, with a total of 370,517,716 shares traded across 10,026 deals, reflecting an 11 per cent improvement in volume, 32 per cent improvement in turnover, and a nine per cent improvement in the number of deals compared to Tuesday.

Additionally, the total market turnover amounted to N8.44bn.

Among the day’s top gainers were AustinLaz & Company, which surged by 10 per cent to close at N2.20 per share, followed by Tantalizer, which also gained 10 per cent, closing at N0.99 per share. Lafarge WAPCO rose by 9.98 per cent, closing at N55.65 per share, and Honeywell Flour Mill gained 9.95 per cent, closing at N4.53 per share.

Other notable gainers included Eunicsell, which increased by 9.94 per cent to close at N15.93, and Cadbury Nigeria, which gained 9.92 per cent, closing at N19.40 per share.

On the losing side, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills led the decliners with a 10 per cent drop, closing at N33.75 per share, followed by RT Briscoe, which also dropped by 10 per cent, closing at N1.71 per share. Multiverse Mining & Exploration fell by 9.43 per cent to close at N1.15 per share, and Daar Communications declined by 7.46 per cent, closing at N0.61 per share.

The performance of exchange market indices was also positive, with several indices recording gains. The Consumer Goods Index rose by 1.09 per cent, the Insurance Index gained 0.78 per cent, and the Industrial Index also saw an increase of 0.78 per cent. The Premium Index and the Pension Index increased by 0.56 per cent and 0.45 per cent, respectively.

In terms of volume, Haldane McCall Plc recorded the highest volume with 39.6 million shares traded, followed by Access Holdings with 23 million shares, United Bank for Africa with 22.5 million shares, and Lafarge WAPCO with 19.1 million shares.

On Tuesday, the Nigerian equity market closed on a positive note on Tuesday, as key stocks, led by Lafarge WAPCO, lifted the market to N136bn gain.  The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange increased by 0.23 per cent to close at N59.4tn, while a total of 333,948,810 shares were traded in 9,187 deals, with a market turnover of N6.42bn.