By Bamidele Famoofo
WorldStage– The Nigerian equities market closed the week on a positive note, supported by renewed buying interest across key counters. The benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 1.60 percent and 1.61 percent week-on-week to close at 247,357.40 points, while market capitalisation increased by approximately N2.53 trillion to N159.59 trillion. Consequently, the market’s year-to-date return improved to 58.96 percent.
Market breadth remained positive, with 57 gainers against 36 losers, translating to a market breadth ratio of 1.58x. This reflects sustained investor appetite, as advancing stocks continued to outnumber decliners during the week.
Market activity strengthened considerably, signalling increased investor participation. The number of deals, trading volume, and transaction value rose by 12.75 percent, 57.28 percent, and 67.59 percent week-on-week, respectively. In total, investors exchanged 4.43 billion shares worth N306.31 billion across 255,945 deals.
Sectoral performance was broadly positive during the week, with all major indices closing in positive territory, led by strong gains in the Banking, Consumer Goods, and Industrial Goods sectors as renewed investor confidence and bargain hunting spurred widespread buying interest.
The Banking Index emerged as the best-performing sector, advancing 8.35 percent on the back of robust gains in FIRSTHOLDCO, ACCESSCORP, FCMB, and ZENITHBANK, reflecting sustained optimism ahead of the earnings season and continued expectations of strong profitability in the high-interest-rate environment. The Consumer Goods Index followed with a 6.30 percent gain, driven by renewed demand for UNILEVER, CADBURY, and GUINNESS, as investors accumulated fundamentally attractive counters after recent price corrections.
The Industrial Goods Index appreciated by 5.01 percent, supported primarily by strong buying interest in BUA Cement, which outweighed declines in TRIPPLE GEE and CUTIX, highlighting investors’ preference for large-cap industrial stocks. Meanwhile, the Insurance Index gained 3.86 percent, buoyed by impressive performances in AXA Mansard, NEM Insurance, and Veritas Kapital, while the Oil & Gas Index posted a modest 0.11 percent increase as gains in ETERNA and OANDO offset weakness across other counters.
On the gainers’ chart, UPL led with a 33.3 percent weekly gain, followed by FIRSTHOLDCO (+25.6%), UNIONDICON (+19.3%), CADBURY (+18.4%), and MAYBAKER (+17.9%), driven by renewed buying interest across large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks. Conversely, MEYER topped the losers’ chart after declining 27.0 percent, followed by ROYALEX (-12.8%), UACN (-12.3%), BUAFOODS (-10.0%), and NGXGROUP (-10.0%).
The losses were largely attributed to profit-taking and sustained selling pressure in these counters.
Looking ahead, Analysts expect the Nigerian equities market to maintain a positive bias in the near term, supported by sustained investor interest in fundamentally sound stocks, particularly within the banking and industrial goods sectors. Continued positioning ahead of the ongoing corporate earnings season and dividend expectations is likely to underpin buying activity.
However, intermittent profit-taking in stocks that have recorded significant gains may temper overall market performance. Consequently, market direction is expected to remain driven by corporate earnings releases, macroeconomic developments, and investor reactions to monetary policy expectations.
