Nigeria: Bargain hunting at NGX adds $507mln to the market cap

Bargain hunting returned strongly to the Nigerian equities market on Wednesday, lifting the benchmark index by 56 basis points as investors rotated back into fundamentally sound large-cap stocks.

At the close of trading, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange Limited advanced by 0.56 per cent to settle at 190,427.96 points, reversing the previous session’s profit-taking pressure.

With sustained buying momentum, the market’s year-to-date return strengthened further to 22.4 per cent, reinforcing optimism about the resilience of Nigerian equities despite intermittent bouts of profit-taking.

Consequently, market capitalisation rose by N683.62 billion to N122.24 trillion, underscoring renewed investor appetite.

The rebound is attributable to fresh positioning in heavyweight counters, notably Seplat Energy Plc, which rallied 8.33 per cent, alongside Zenith Bank Plc, up 3.91 per cent. Other notable gainers included Presco Plc, up 4.05 per cent; FCMB Group Plc, which gained 3.80 per cent; and United Bank for Africa Plc, rising 1.51 per cent, as buy-side actors re-entered the market.

The gains were sufficient to offset declines recorded in Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, which fell 9.98 per cent; Access Holdings Plc, down 2.91 per cent; PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, losing 2.16 per cent; Oando Plc, shedding 1.36 per cent; and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, which dipped 1.07 per cent.

Sectoral performance closed broadly positive, with five of six indices ending in green territory. The Oil & Gas index led gainers, rising 3.87 per cent on the back of strong buying interest in Seplat Energy, while the Commodity index climbed 2.78 per cent. The Banking index advanced 0.67 per cent, Consumer Goods appreciated by 0.22 per cent, and Industrial Goods edged higher by 0.09 per cent, supported by gains in Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, International Breweries Plc and Beta Glass Plc.

Conversely, the Insurance index dipped marginally by 0.20 per cent, pressured by losses in NEM Insurance Plc.

Activity levels strengthened significantly during the session. Total volume traded surged by 205.7 per cent to 3.66 billion shares, while turnover rose 2.8 per cent to N61.88 billion across 68,693 deals, reflecting improved liquidity and sustained confidence among institutional and retail investors.

FCMB Group Plc dominated market activity, accounting for 2.9 billion units traded, representing 80.17 per cent of total volume. The stock also topped the value chart with N35.9 billion, or 57.98 per cent of total trade value, buoyed by two sizeable cross deals of 1.2 billion shares each at N12.30 and an additional 500,000-unit cross at the same price level.