Onome Amuge
The Nigerian stock market staged a rebound into bullish territory on Wednesday, after a day of volatile trading, with strong price movements in Chellaram Plc and Austin Laz & Company driving sentiment in an otherwise uneven session.
The benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) rose 0.35 per cent to finish at 142,036.23 points, up from 141,546.78 points the previous day, extending the year-to-date gain to 38 per cent. The advance lifted total market capitalisation by N309.66 billion to N89.87 trillion.
While the market ended in positive territory, underlying sentiment was less convincing. Market breadth remained negative, with 26 stocks posting gains against 31 losers, and 97 closing unchanged. Trading activity, however, picked up, with volume and value rising by 142.09 per cent and 90.46 per cent respectively. Investors exchanged 1bn units of shares valued at N24.66 billion across 23,281 deals, even as the number of trades fell by 8.29 per cent.
The day’s spotlight fell squarely on Chellaram Plc, a consumer goods and trading company, and Austin Laz & Company, a manufacturer of industrial refrigeration and air conditioning equipment. Both stocks rose by the maximum permissible daily limits, underscoring renewed investor interest in mid-cap counters often overlooked in the broader market narrative.
Chellaram gained 9.77 per cent, closing at N14.60 per share compared with N13.30 previously. The rally in the century-old trading group reflects speculative positioning as well as optimism around its diversification strategy, which includes imports, distribution, and a growing presence in Nigeria’s fast-moving consumer goods supply chain.
Austin Laz, one of Nigeria’s few listed refrigeration and cooling companies, saw its shares jump 9.67 per cent to N2.95 from N2.69. The move indicates that investors are betting on rising demand for storage and cold-chain solutions across Nigeria’s agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors, areas where the company has been attempting to expand its footprint.
Both gains were accompanied by brisk retail participation, dealers said, as investors sought to rotate into underpriced counters offering short-term upside amid lingering uncertainty in the blue-chip banking and insurance names.
The broader market reflected a patchy picture across sectors. The oil and gas index led with a 2.59 per cent climb, boosted by renewed demand for Aradel Holdings, which also topped the value chart with N6.8 billion worth of shares traded in 858 deals. Consumer goods stocks gained 0.90 per cent, supported by Chellaram’s rally, while the commodities segment rose 1.25 per cent and industrials eked out a marginal 0.06 per cent uptick.
In contrast, banking shares slipped 0.16 per cent as investors pared back exposure to tier-one lenders, while insurance was the weakest performer, down 1.61 per cent, dragged by heavy losses in Guinea Insurance and Cornerstone Insurance.
Guinea Insurance tumbled 9.70 per cent to N1.49 from N1.65, making it the day’s top laggard. Cornerstone fell 8.68 per cent to N6.52, while Legend Internet lost 7.27 per cent to N5.10. Analysts said the weakness in the financial services segment reflected profit-taking after recent rallies, as well as uncertainty over regulatory headwinds and capital requirements.
On the volume chart, Abbey Mortgage Bank led with 401 million shares traded in 47 deals, a sharp spike that accounted for nearly half of the day’s market activity. Fidelity Bank followed with 254 million shares changing hands in 509 deals, highlighting strong retail and institutional interest. United Bank for Africa recorded 23 million shares traded across 1,344 transactions.
In value terms, Aradel Holdings led, followed by Fidelity Bank at N5.2 billion and Abbey Mortgage Bank at N2.7 billion, reinforcing the skew towards a handful of high-value counters.
Market watchers said Wednesday’s rebound was encouraging but cautioned that the underlying breadth signalled fragility. Analysts also pointed to global oil price trends and domestic macroeconomic conditions as critical to sustaining the market’s upward momentum. Nigeria’s equities have benefited from investor rotation into emerging markets and renewed optimism about reforms in Africa’s fourth largest economy, but inflationary pressures and foreign exchange volatility remain risks.
Despite these headwinds, the NGX has delivered one of the best year-to-date performances among frontier and emerging markets, buoyed by strong corporate earnings in consumer and industrial sectors and investor enthusiasm for energy-linked plays.
