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Investors on the Nigerian Exchange Limited recorded a gain of ₦390 billion at the close of trading on Wednesday, as bullish sentiment dominated the market.
The positive performance was largely driven by the release of full-year 2025 financial results by listed companies, which boosted investor confidence.
Market sentiment was further strengthened by FTSE Russell’s latest Equity Country Classification Interim Review, which confirmed Nigeria’s return to Frontier Market status from its previous “Unclassified” position.
The reclassification, set to take effect in September, is expected to attract increased inflows from global tracker funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) tracking the FTSE Frontier Index.
Read Also: US Stocks Surge On Hopes Iran War Will End Soon
At the close of trading, market capitalization rose from N130.014 trillion to N130.404 trillion, representing a gain of N390 billion or 0.28 percent.
Similarly, the All-Share Index advanced by 562.44 points, or 0.28 percent to close at 202,585.54, up from 202,023.10 recorded on Tuesday. Consequently, the Year-to-Date (YTD) return improved to 30.19 percent.
Despite the overall positive outlook, market breadth closed negative, with 32 losers compared to 22 gainers.
On the losers’ table, UPDCredit declined by 10 per cent to close at N6.75, while Fortis Global Insurance fell by 9.92 per cent to N1.18. Deep Capital Management dropped by 9.85 percent to N5.40 per share.
Also, CHAMS shed 9.47 per cent to close at N3.06, while JaPaul Gold lost 8.82 per cent to settle at N3.10 per share.
Conversely, Universal Insurance topped the gainers’ chart with a 10 percent increase, closing at N1.21. Omatek Ventures rose by 9.78 per cent to N2.47, while VFD Group gained 9.71 per cent to close at N11.30 per share.
In the same vein, Computer Warehouse Group appreciated by 9.64 percent to N21.05, and Livestock Feeds climbed 9.56 percent to close at N7.45 per share.
Meanwhile, trading activity declined, as total volume traded dropped by 12.64 per cent to 1.01 billion shares, valued at N40.57 billion across 52,723 deals.
Access Corporation led the activity chart by volume with 232.98 million shares, accounting for 23.14 per cent of total trades, while Zenith Bank emerged as the most traded stock by value at N6.47 billion, representing 15.94 per cent of the day’s turnover.
Wall Street stocks rocketed higher Tuesday while oil prices retreated after Iran’s president said his country had the “necessary will” to end the war with the United States and Israel, lifting hopes that a resolution was in site.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a phone call with the president of the European Council, said Iran had “the necessary will to end this conflict, provided that essential conditions are met — especially the guarantees required to prevent repetition of the aggression.”
The comments prompted a surge in US equities, with the blue-chip Dow index finishing up 2.5 percent, or more than 1,125 points, at 46,341.51.
“This is the first concrete communication coming from Iran that feels verifiable,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. “The market has been coiled for good news after having been down the last five weeks.”
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Stocks appeared to shrug off subsequent remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the more than month-long military campaign against Tehran was not over, vowing to crush Iran’s “terror regime.”
Pezeshkian’s remarks also shifted the oil market, which has been a major driver of financial markets since the US and Israel began their attacks on Iran on February 28.
Brent oil futures finished down 3.2 percent at $103.97 a barrel.
Even before Pezeshkian’s remarks, US and European stocks had risen following reports that President Donald Trump had said he was willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened.
But worries about oil supplies continue to hang over markets.
The head of a maritime analyst group warned in an interview with AFP that Asia was confronting a major energy crisis as it faces the gravest fallout from the war.
“We think Asia will, for now, be the ones suffering the most,” Kpler president Jean Maynier told AFP at the company’s offices in Singapore.
Oil “remains painfully high for economies to deal with,” noted Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.
In a sign that Trump will likely face pressure to bring crude prices down, the American Automobile Association said US gas prices jumped above an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022, when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
European stocks rose despite data showing that eurozone inflation leapt in March because of surging energy prices, hitting its highest level since January 2025.
Consumer prices rose 2.5 percent, up sharply from 1.9 percent in February, the EU’s statistics agency said.
Asia’s main stock markets closed mixed.
