The equities market closed on a positive note on Wednesday, as performance indices grew by 0.41 per cent amid increased buying interest and bargain hunting.
The uptrend was driven by strong buying interest in medium and large-capitalised stocks such as Chellaram, FTN Cocoa Processors, Berger Paints, Sunu Assurances, Livestock Feeds and 33 other sticks.
Market capitalisation rose by N360 billion, or 0.41 per cent, to close at N88.813 trillion, compared with N88.453 trillion on Tuesday.
Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 569.25 points, or 0.41 per cent, to settle at 140,356.36.
Also, the market breadth closed positive with 38 gainers and 27 losers.
Chellaram and FTN Cocoa Processors led the gainers’ table by 10 per cent each, ending the session at N12.10 and N5.94 per share respectively.
Berger Paints increased by 9.86 per cent, closing at N39 and Sunu Assurances rose by 8.91 per cent, finishing at N8 per share.
Conversely, FG162029S1 led the decliners’ table by 49.49 per cent, closing at N55 while May and Baker lost by 9.97 per cent, settling at N16.25 per share.
Union Dicon Salt dropped by 9.72 per cent, ending the session at N9.75 and Cileasing fell by 7.69 per cent finishing at N6 per share.
Also, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria declined by 7.04 per cent, closing at N2.51 per share.
A total of 767.7 million shares worth N40.64 billion were traded across 24,837 transactions compared to 659.2 million shares valued at N12.5 billion that was traded across 25,334 transactions earlier on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, transactions in the shares of FCMB Group topped the activity chart with 287.7 million shares, valued at N3.1 billion.
Nigerian Breweries followed with 50.5 million shares, worth N3.5 billion while Aradel Holdings sold 43.4 million shares, valued at N23 billion.
Access Holdings traded 40.3 million shares worth N1.1 billion.
