Nigerian Stock Market Extends Rally, Gains N157 Trillion

The Nigerian equities market extended a three-day rally this week, closing higher on Wednesday after a volatile period of trading. The market's sustained upward movement added to significant gains recorded earlier in the week, reinforcing a positive trend for investors.

On Wednesday, the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 0.06 per cent, closing at 244,852.21 points. Market capitalisation increased to N157.042 trillion, bringing the year-to-date return to 57.35 per cent. Despite the overall index gain, market breadth was negative, with 37 stocks recording losses against 30 gainers, indicating a broader sell-off across many counters. Livestock Feeds led the gainers with a 10 per cent increase, while FG142037S2 topped the decliners, falling by 26.67 per cent. Market activity declined for the day, with total trading volume falling 3.47 per cent to 1.23 billion shares valued at N38.84 billion.

This followed a strong performance on Tuesday, when the ASI advanced by 0.53 per cent to close at 244,697.62 points, driven by renewed buying interest in telecom and financial stocks. Market capitalisation expanded by N830 billion to N156.94 trillion. Analysts attributed the momentum to...