The nation’s bourse extended a bullish trend on Wednesday largely driven by gains recorded by Airtel Africa and 19 others.

Consequently, the All-Share Index increased by 271.84 points, representing a growth of 0.69 percent to close at 39,448.46 from 39,176.62 posted on Tuesday.

Consequently, month-to-date gain increased to 2.3 percent, while the year-to-date loss moderated to 2.0 percent.

Similarly, the market capitalization gained N142 billion or 0.69 percent to close at N20.553 trillion against N20.411 trillion achieved on Tuesday.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalized stocks, amongst which are; Airtel Africa, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals, and Livestock Feeds.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “We expect the bullish performance to be sustained in the next trading session, as investors continue to trade on company-specific fundamentals.”

Market sentiment closed positive with 20 gainers relative to 15 losers.

Pharma Deko drove the gainers’ chart in percentage terms, gaining 9.17 percent to close at N1.19 per share.

Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals followed with 8.61 percent to close at N1.64, while Ikeja Hotel appreciated by 7.69 percent to close at N1.40 per share.

Livestock Feeds rose by 6.84 percent to close at N2.03, while Linkage Assurance appreciated by 6.78 percent to close at 63k per share.

On the other hand, FTN Cocoa Processors led the losers’ chart in percentage terms by 8.89 percent to close at 41k per share.

Wema Bank followed with 7.32 percent to close at 76k, while May and Baker Nigeria lost 6.38 percent to close at N4.40 per share.

Mutual Benefits Assurance shed 5.56 percent to close at 34k, while Veritas Kapital Assurance depreciated by 4.17 percent to close at 23k per share.

Transactions in the shares of Transcorp topped the activity chart with 20.49 million shares valued at N19.34 million.

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ETI followed with 17.54 million shares worth N97.99 million, while FCMB Group traded 15.31 million shares valued at N48.21 million.

Sterling Bank sold 14.14 million shares worth N22.24 million, while United Bank for Africa transacted 10.94 million shares valued at N83.39 million.

In all, the total volume of trades declined by 61.8 percent as investors bought and sold 181.42 million units worth N2.08 billion in 3,599 deals.

This was in contrast with 474.53 million shares valued at N3.98 billion exchanged in 4,161 deals on Tuesday.