Market News

The Nigerian equities market sustained last week’s rally to close the week upbeat as bargain hunting in many blue-chip stocks lifted investors’ fortunes by N1.36 trillion, despite underlying weakness across a range of stocks.

At the close of trading last week, the all-share index (ASI) advanced by 1.03 per cent week-on-week to settle at 203,770.42 points, while market capitalisation rose by 1.05 per cent to N131.17 trillion.

The growth represented a gain of about N1.36 trillion, a marked improvement from the N837 billion recorded in the previous week, pushing the year-to-date return to 30.95 per cent and reinforcing sustained upward momentum in the market.

Despite the strong headline performance, market breadth remained weak at 0.46x, with 25 stocks gaining as against 54 decliners, highlighting a divergence between index growth and overall stock performance.

Trading activity rebounded significantly, reversing the prior week’s decline as the number of deals, volume of shares traded and total value surged by 6.62 per cent, 17.67 per cent and 33.73 per cent, respectively.

Investors exchanged 3.36 billion shares valued at N152.13 billion across 230,368 deals, reflecting stronger participation and renewed investor interest.

On the price movement chart, the banking sector led the market with a 5.1 per cent gain, driven by strong buying interest in tier-one lenders including Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Zenith Bank and First Bank of Nigeria. Investors continued to position in fundamentally sound institutions with attractive valuations and resilient earnings.

The consumer goods sector followed with a 3.73 per cent gain, supported by renewed demand for NASCON Allied Industries and Guinness Nigeria, reflecting selective accumulation in defensive stocks.

The oil and gas sector also recorded a 2.67 per cent increase, underpinned by sustained interest in Seplat Energy and Aradel Holdings, as investors maintained exposure to energy stocks amid supportive oil price dynamics.

Meanwhile, the industrial goods sector posted a modest gain of 0.8 per cent, largely driven by buying interest in Lafarge Africa, indicating cautious optimism in the infrastructure space.

On the gainers’ chart, Transexpress led with a 32.7 per cent increase, followed by NGX group with 13.9 per cent, GTCo with 10.7 per cent, Nascon with 9.5 per cent and Guinness with 9.4 per cent, reflecting strong buying momentum.

On the losers’ side, Daarcomm, RTBriscoe, Deapcap, Ellahlakes and Japaulgold recorded the steepest declines, driven by profit-taking and sustained selling pressure.

Looking ahead, the Chief Research Officer of Investdata Consulting Limited, Ambrose Omordion, said the direction of the market would be shaped by a convergence of both domestic and global variables, notably interest rate expectations, evolving inflation dynamics, corporate earnings releases and developments in the international oil market, which remains a critical driver of Nigeria’s macroeconomic stability.

He noted that shifts in monetary policy and liquidity conditions will continue to influence asset allocation decisions, while earnings performance across key sectors will determine the sustainability of the current rally.

Omordion emphasised that investors must remain disciplined and highly selective, focusing on stocks with strong underlying fundamentals, resilient and consistent earnings growth, as well as favourable technical setups that signal entry and exit opportunities.