The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed marginally higher on Tuesday, buoyed by a sharp increase in trading volume and value largely driven by Access Corp Plc. Investors in the shares of the Tier 1 lender exchanged 385.834 million units valued N7.72 billion in 1,372 deals.
But the stock price remained unchanged at N20.00 per share.
At the end of the session, total transactions stood at 1.026 billion shares exchanged in 23,701 deals, with a market value of N21.83 billion. Compared with the previous trading day, volume rose by 85.52%, while traded value increased by 64.48%. However, the number of deals dropped by 18.01%.
The NGX’s key performance indicators of All Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation inched up by 0.01%, closing at 149,459.11 points (+21.23 basis points) and N95.28 trillion respectively.
Trading activity was dominated by banking and consumer goods stocks, as investors focused on high-liquidity stocks. Access Holdings led the activity chart while Sterling Financial Holdings, FCMB Group, and First HoldCo also attracted strong institutional interest.
A total of 129 listed equities participated in trading, ending the session.
In terms of gainers and losers a total of 31 stocks recorded gains led by Aluminium Extrusion Industries, which surged by the maximum 10% to close at N9.35, while 26 stocks recorded losses led by Haldane McCall with the steepest decline, shedding 9.93% to close at N3.72 per share.
Guinness Nigeria followed closely with a 9.98% rally to N263.40 as investors returned to select consumer stocks. MeCure Industries and Multiverse Mining & Exploration also posted near-limit gains of 9.95% each, closing at N45.85 and N12.15, respectively.
On the losing side, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank and Veritas Kapital Assurance both fell by 9.09% to N3.50 and N1.60, while Linkage Assurance also closed lower at N1.65, reflecting profit-taking pressure.
The NGX Insurance Index rose by +0.36%, while the Consumer Goods Index advanced by +0.21%, extending its impressive year-to-date gain beyond 100%.
The NGX Pension and Premium indices also closed slightly higher. However, the NGX Top 30 Index dipped by -0.08%, and the Main Board Index edged down by -0.01%.
With liquidity remaining strong and investors rotating into fundamentally sound and high-volume stocks, market sentiment is expected to stay cautiously optimistic in the near term, even as selective profit-taking persists.