Awash Bank (AWAB) dominated trading on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) on Wednesday, with 16,522 shares changing hands, nearly 17 times the 986 shares traded in the previous session. The surge lifted total mainboard volume to about 22,014 shares, up from 4,009 on Tuesday.

AWAB alone accounted for roughly 75% of the day’s traded volume, displacing Ethio Telecom (TELE) as the most actively traded stock. The shares closed at 2,250.00 birr, up 33.09 birr or 1.41%, after trading between 2,230.00 and 2,400.00 birr during the session. It marked a second consecutive gain for the stock, following Tuesday’s 2.51% rise.

Abay Bank (ABAYB) was the only other gainer, rising 1.20% to 1,395.00 birr on thin volume of 40 shares. The stock closed at its session high after touching a low of 1,250.00 birr, recovering part of Tuesday’s 3.54% decline.

Ethio Telecom remained the second most-traded stock, with volume nearly doubling to 4,844 shares from 2,479 a day earlier. The shares fell 1.75% to 440.00 birr, extending losses for a second session.

Among the banks, Wegagen Bank (WGBX) declined 1.84% to 1,180.00 birr on 366 shares, trading in a wide range of 1,108.00 to 1,240.00 birr. Bank of Abyssinia (BOAX) slipped 0.43% to 1,730.00 birr on 242 shares.

Gadaa Bank (GDAB) recorded no trades during the session.

Market breadth was mixed, with two gainers and three decliners. That was an improvement from Tuesday, when Awash Bank was the sole advancer against five decliners.