The Nigerian stock market extended its bullish run as investors gained over N3.4 trillion in a four-day trading week, shortened by the public holiday declared to honour the late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Market capitalisation, representing the total value of stocks listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, surged to N83.241 trillion from N79.803 trillion the previous week. Similarly, the NGX All-Share Index rose by 4.3% to close at 131,585.66 points, up from 126,149.59 points.
The rally was primarily driven by gains in industrial goods giants, with Dangote Cement rising by 16.47% week-on-week and BUA Cement soaring by 31.28%. Other top performers included Stanbic IBTC (18.38%) and Nestle Foods (20.00%), pushing the Year-to-Date return to 27.84%.
Trading activity surged significantly, with investors exchanging 17.498 billion shares worth N500.762 billion in 142,082 deals, compared to 5.390 billion shares valued at N107.811 billion traded the previous week in 134,390 deals.
The Financial Services sector dominated trading, accounting for 15.771 billion shares worth N437.763 billion in 66,725 deals—representing 90.13% of total turnover volume and 87.42% of value. Market operators attributed this surge to bulk share sales involving Oba Otudeko, former Chairman of FirstHoldco Plc, and Tunde Hassan-Odukale, former Chairman of First Bank Nigeria. A similar large-volume trade occurred in Fidelity Bank shares, exceeding one billion units, though details remain undisclosed.
The ICT sector followed with 325.134 million shares worth N3.492 billion in 9,028 deals, while the Consumer Goods sector recorded 313.424 million shares worth N20.162 billion in 14,917 deals. The top three traded stocks—FirstHoldco Plc, FCMB Group Plc, and Fidelity Bank Plc—accounted for 13.229 billion shares worth N367.498 billion in 10,083 deals, contributing 75.60% and 73.39% to total volume and value, respectively.
Most sectoral indices closed higher, except for NGX Insurance (-3.65%), NGX AseM (-9.56%), NGX Oil & Gas (-0.76%), NGX Growth (-4.80%), and NGX Sovereign Bond (-0.57%).
Analysts at Cordros Capital noted: “In the week ahead, we expect investors’ broad-based sentiment to be shaped by the outcome of the upcoming Central Bank of Nigeria Monetary Policy Committee meeting, as participants evaluate its impact on yields and equity valuations.”
