The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) on Wednesday recorded a N9 billion gain due to price appreciation in Dangote Cement and some tier-one banking stocks.

The primary drivers of the market were Dangote Cement, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA).

Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 1.78 percent.

In summary, the market capitalisation shed N9 billion or 0.04 percent to close at N23.681 trillion, compared with N23.672 trillion posted the previous day.

Also, the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 15.88 points, representing 0.04 percent to close at 43,477.48 from 43,461.60 recorded on Tuesday.

Market breadth was positive as 11 stocks gained, relative to 10 losers.

Unity Bank recorded the highest price gain of 9.09 percent to close at 48k, while Linkage Assurance followed with a gain 7.69 percent to close at 42k, per share.

Royal Exchange rose by 7.32 percent to close at 88k, while Chams appreciated by 4.35 percent to close at 24k, per share.

Mutual Benefits Assurance garnered 3.85 to close at 27k, per share.

On the other hand, Honeywell Floure led the losers’ chart by 9.09 percent, to close at N2, per share.

Prestige Insurance followed with a decline of 8.70 percent to close at 42k, while Presco Plc declined by 6.15 percent to close at N120.50, per share.

Jaiz Bank shed six percent to close at 94k, while Oando depreciated by 4.41 percent to close at N3.90, per share.

However, the total volume of trades declined by 27.62 percent to 133.41 million units, valued at N1.81 billion, and exchanged in 3,078 deals.