The domestic stock market reversed the previous day’s loss to close higher by 0.56 per cent on Wednesday on the back of a renewed bargain-hunting by investors, especially in the industrial goods sector.

Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the industrial goods space rose by 1.27 per cent. The consumer goods counter expanded by 0.74 per cent, the banking sector gained 0.48 per cent, and the commodity index improved by 0.21 per cent.

However, due to profit-taking by some market participants, the insurance industry plunged by 0.37 per cent yesterday and the energy counter depreciated by 0.01 per cent.

When trading activities closed for midweek at the Nigerian bourse, the All-Share Index (ASI) chalked up 641.63 points to settle at 114,659.11 points compared with Tuesday’s 114,017.48 points and the market capitalisation appreciated by N404 billion to finish at N72.302 trillion versus the preceding session’s N71.898 trillion.

Investor sentiment remained strong, with a positive market breadth index after Customs Street ended with 31 price gainers and 28 price losers.

The duo of ABC Transport and Beta Glass gained 10.00 per cent each to trade at N2.64 and N231.10 apiece, Berger Paints surged by 9.98 per cent to N24.80, Fidson grew by 9.91 per cent to N34.95, and Legend Internet advanced by 9.88 per cent to N6.45.

On the flip side, Abbey Mortgage Bank declined by 7.50 per cent to N5.55, NCR Nigeria weakened by 7.09 per cent to N5.50, Vitafoam Nigeria slipped by 6.64 per cent to N60.50, DAAR Communications slumped by 6.06 per cent to 62 Kobo, and Nestle Nigeria lost 5.69 per cent to N1500.00.

It was observed that the level of activity was lower than the previous session, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals down by 27.80 per cent, 24.87 per cent, and 14.35 per cent, respectively.

A total of 471.2 million equities valued at N14.2 billion were transacted in 20,538 deals during the session versus the 652.6 million equities worth N18.9 billion traded in 23,978 deals a day earlier.

The busiest stock for the day was FCMB with 40.3 million units sold for N410.2 million, UBA traded 36.6 million units worth N1.3 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 35.1 million units valued at N789.0 million, Zenith Bank transacted 28.7 million units for N1.4 billion, and Japaul traded 25.4 million units worth N50.1 million.

Leading cement company in Nigeria, Dangote Cement Plc, is offering commercial paper worth N100 billion for sale to investors.

Subscription for the exercise commenced on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, and will close on Friday, June 13, 2025, according to details of the proposed transaction.

The cement giant is selling the debt instrument in three tenors under Series 19, 20, and 21, through its N300 billion commercial paper issuance programme.

Funds from the sale of the commercial paper would be used to finance the company’s operations, Dangote Cement said in the offer documents.

reports that the minimum subscription for the exercise is N5 million and N1,000 thereafer, with applicable taxes to apply on the instrument except otherwise exempt.

Series 19 of the CP has a maturity of 93 days at discount rate of 19.93 per cent, the Series 20 has a tenor of 184 days at discount rate of 20.61 per cent, and Series 21 matures in 268 days at discount rate of 20.77 per cent.

Dangote Cement is a major player in the Nigerian cement ecosystem, .

The company boasts a combined capacity of 52Mta (35.3Mta in Nigeria) across its operations in 10 African countries, operating a fully integrated “quarry-to-customer” business with activities covering manufacturing, sales and distribution of cement.

Through its investments, the organisation eliminated Nigeria’s dependence on imported cement and transformed the nation into an exporter of cement, serving neighbouring countries.

All the parties involved in the legal row over the sale of Lafarge Africa Plc to a Chinese company, Huaxin Cement Limited, have been ordered to maintain status quo.

This directive was given by a when the matter came up for hearing.

The transaction will have to wait pending the outcome of the case in the Court of Appeal.

At the hearing today, counsel to Lafarge Africa, Mr Babatunde Fagbohunlu (SAN), told Justice Lewis Allagoa that an appeal had already been filed against the lower court based on jurisdiction.

According to him, records of proceedings have been transmitted to the appellate court with an application for a stay of proceedings, advising the court to refrain from continuing with the substantive matter until the issue of jurisdiction is resolved.

However, counsel to the party which wants to stop the sale of 83.81 per cent stake in Lafarge Africa to the Chinese firm, Strategic Consultancy, Mr D.A. Awosika (SAN), argued that his client had not been served with any notice of appeal, maintaining that the appeal filed by the cement firm relates only to the mode of commencement of the suit and does not impact the core issues of the substantive case.

He noted that if the stay of proceedings is granted, the other parties should also be stopped from taking any steps to prejudice the matter.

Justice Allagoa, which adjourned the case to October 9, 2025, ordered that status quo should be maintained by all parties.

Strategic Consultancy, which is a minority shareholder in Lafarge Africa, is against the sale of the majority stake to Huaxin Cement by a Swiss multinational and Lafarge’s parent company, Holcim Group.

The Nigerian company argued that the transaction violates Nigerian corporate and investment laws, including the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission Act, and the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) Act.

The Nigerian Senate also recently of the cement firm to the Chinese company.