The Nigerian stock market rebounded on Wednesday to halt the bearish sentiment of two consecutive trading days with a growth of N382 billion.

Market capitalisation rose by N382 billion or 1.89 per cent to close at N20.627 trillion from N20.245 trillion on Tuesday.

Also, the benchmark index closed higher by 733.30 points or 1.89 per cent to 39,592.29 – the most significant single-day gain since January 4 from 38,858.99 posted on Tuesday.

Accordingly, the month-to-date gain stood at 1.0 per cent, while the year-to-date loss moderated to 1.7 per cent.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Dangote Cement, Presco, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills and FBN Holdings (FBNH).

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said that “In the final trading session for the week, we anticipate an extension of this positive momentum as investors snap up bargains ahead of the weekend.”

The market breadth closed positive with 24 gainers as against 14 losers.

NNFM dominated the gainers’ chart in percentage terms with 6.88 per cent to close at N8.55 per share.

FBNH followed with 6.62 per cent to close at N8.05, while Dangote Cement appreciated by 6.53 per cent to close at N261 per share.

Nestle rose by 6.36 per cent to close at N1,489, while Courteville Business Solutions appreciated by 6.06 per cent to close at 35k per share.

On the other hand, Julius Berger Nigeria and AXA Mansard Insurance led the losers’ chart in percentage terms by 10 per cent each, to close at N24.30 and N2.43 per share, respectively.

Greif followed with a decline of 9.92 per cent to close at N5.45 per share.

Sovereign Trust Insurance shed 8.33 per cent to close at 22k, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance depreciated by 7.02 per cent to close at 53k per share.

However, the total volume traded decreased by 9.87 per cent with an exchange of 474.37 million shares worth N4.01 billion traded in 3,547 deals.

This was in contrast with 526.30 million shares worth N3.004 billion achieved in 3,535 deals on Tuesday.

Transactions in the shares of FBNH topped the activity chart with 264.69 million shares valued at N2.05 billion.

Universal Insurance followed with 76.67 million shares worth N15.33 million, while AXA Mansard Insurance traded 13.08 million shares valued at N31.83 million.

Zenith Bank sold 12.12 million shares worth N283.27 million, while Fidelity Bank transacted 11.23 million shares worth N27.51 million. 

(NAN)