Equities rally, push market value to N156.9trn

The Nigerian stock market sustained its upward momentum on Tuesday, adding N834.67 billion in value as renewed investor appetite for heavyweight banking and telecommunications stocks pushed the benchmark index to another record high.

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 0.53 per cent to close at 244,697.62 points, lifting the market’s year-to-date return to 57.25 per cent and driving total market capitalisation to N156.94 trillion.

The rally was largely driven by strong gains in Airtel Africa, First HoldCo, Transcorp and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), with Airtel Africa leading the charge after surging 10 per cent. First HoldCo advanced 8.5 per cent, while Transcorp and GTCO gained 2.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively.

The latest advance comes despite a broadly mixed market sentiment, with declining stocks marginally outnumbering gainers. Market breadth closed at 0.9x as 31 stocks appreciated against 34 decliners, suggesting that gains were concentrated in a handful of large-cap counters.

Market analysts noted that the strong performance of blue-chip stocks continued to offset weakness across several sectors, enabling the broader market to maintain its bullish trajectory.

Among the day’s top performers were Airtel Africa, International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank and First HoldCo. On the losers’ chart, Learn Africa, Trans-Nationwide Express, Unilever Nigeria, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), and Okomu Oil Palm recorded the steepest declines.

Sectoral performance remained largely bearish. The Consumer Goods Index shed 0.83 per cent, while Industrial Goods fell 0.99 per cent. The Oil and Gas Index declined 0.14 per cent, and the Commodity Index lost 0.71 per cent.

However, gains in the Banking and Insurance sectors, which advanced 1.33 per cent and 0.24 per cent respectively, provided sufficient support to keep the benchmark index in positive territory.

Trading activity reflected increased investor participation in selected stocks. Market volume surged by more than 70 per cent to 1.27 billion shares, although the number of deals fell by 24.38 per cent to 56,956 transactions. Market turnover also edged lower by 0.32 per cent to N57.88 billion.

Sterling Financial Holdings emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume, accounting for 715.66 million shares, while Aradel Holdings led by value with transactions worth N13.25 billion.

Looking ahead, market operators expect the positive momentum to persist as investors continue to seek opportunities in fundamentally attractive counters, although profit-taking activities and sector-specific pressures could temper the pace of gains.

With the benchmark index maintaining its upward trajectory and market capitalization approaching the N157 trillion mark, the Nigerian equities market remains one of the best-performing asset classes in the country this year.