The nation’s bourse on Wednesday rose marginally by 0.03 per cent bargain hunting.
Specifically, the All-Share Index increased by 8.41 points or 0.03 per cent to close at 30,741.88 against 30,733.47 reported on Tuesday.
Accordingly, Month-to-Date return and Year-to-Date gain were unchanged at +0.7 per cent and 14.5 per cent, respectively.
Also, the market capitalisation garnered N3 billion or 0.03 per cent to close at N16.068 trillion from N16.063 trillion.
The uptrend was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Chemical and Allied Products, FCMB Group, Guaranty Trust Bank, Dangote Sugar Refinery and Caverton Offshore Support Group.
Market breadth closed positive with 12 gainers compared with 11 losers.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance topped the gainers’ chart in percentage terms with 8.82 per cent to close at 37k per share.
Prestige Assurance followed with 7.41 per cent to close at 58k, while FCMB Group rose by 5.17 per cent to close at N3.05 per share.
AIICO Insurance rose by 4.82 per cent to close at 87k, while Japaul Oil and Maritime Services appreciated by 4.35 per cent to close at 24k per share.
Conversely, Mutual Benefits Assurance led the losers’ chart in percentage terms by 4.76 per cent to close at 20k per share.
Wema Bank followed with a loss of 3.13 per cent to close at 62k, while Julius Berger declined by 2.57 per cent to close at N17.05 per share.
GlaxoSmithKline lost 1.67 per cent to close at N5.90, while Honeywell Flour Mill shed 0.97 per cent to close at N1.02 per share.
However, the total volume of shares traded declined by 14.77 per cent to 286.45 million shares valued at N3.09 billion exchanged in 2,889 deals.
This was in contrast with a total of 336.09 million shares worth N3.89 billion achieved in 5,575 deals on Tuesday.
Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart with 145.01 million shares valued at N1.17 billion.
Zenith Bank sold 21.87 million shares worth N477.85 million, while United Bank for Africa accounted for 17.04 million shares valued at N130.01million.
Mutual Benefits Assurance traded 13.04 million shares worth N2.61 million, while Stanbic IBTC Holdings transacted 11.31 million shares valued at N520.39 million.
In another development, the Senate on Wednesday tasked stakeholders on the need to revive the Nigerian economy, through strengthening the confidence of investors in the capital market.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, gave the task during an interactive session with agencies in the sector.
He said that as stakeholders, they must come together with a view to reviving the economy and strengthening the confidence of the much-needed investors in the capital market.
“As stakeholders in the capital market, I urge you all to see this interactive session as an avenue for us to brainstorm on ways we can collaborate to meaningfully strengthen the capital market.
“This is so that it can continue to function as the gateway to economic development of our nation.
“This interactive meeting is very apt, especially coming at a time like this when concerted efforts are required to revive our economy which has been negatively affected due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the recent EndSARS protest.
“This is the most crucial moment for our economy as Nigeria and indeed the whole world continue to grapple with economic hardships – such that has not been witnessed before.”
He noted that the Senate was not unaware of some of the challenges facing the Nigerian Capital Market.
Amosun, however, said that it was the desire of the committee to support the agencies with necessary legislation to propel the market into greatness.
“Please be assured that we will expedite action on the passage of relevant laws, amend and enact new laws where necessary.
“The capital market needs to re-activate our alternate Market and bring on board unlisted multinational companies in order to develop a robust capital market.
“These informal sectors as we are all aware is a driving force that will dominate our nation’s economy,” he said.
Director-General Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Lamido Yuguda said that the market had not fully recovered from the market crash in the sector.
“The market performance has been volatile since two years but however, it is slowly recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Yuguda, who lamented that SEC was not getting funding from the Federal Government but relied on transaction charges, called for support from the Senate.
