The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) sustained its upward momentum on Monday as strong investor demand across equities and exchange-traded products lifted key market indicators despite pockets of profit-taking.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 0.58 percent to close at 163,244.69 points, reinforcing the Exchange’s bullish tone at the start of the trading week.
The gain pushed equity market capitalisation to ₦104.52 trillion, underscoring continued capital inflows and institutional participation.
Trading activity remained elevated with 1.15 billion shares worth ₦19.23 billion exchanged across 59,359 deals, valued at ₦19.23 billion. The sustained turnover reflected active positioning by investors in banking, insurance, and selected mid-cap stocks.
Market Capitalisation Overview
The broader market maintained its expansionary stance, supported by strength across asset classes.
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Equity Market Capitalisation: ₦104.52 trillion
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Bond Market Capitalisation: ₦51.59 trillion
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ETF Market Capitalisation: ₦58.65 billion
The combined performance highlights increasing diversification of investor portfolios amid Nigeria’s evolving capital market structure.
Gainers Drive Market Sentiment
The session recorded strong speculative interest in selected small and mid-cap stocks, all of which closed at the daily maximum price appreciation.
ETRANZACT, UPDC, MCNICHOLS, REDSTAREX, and RT Briscoe each gained 10 percent, reflecting aggressive buying and renewed interest in previously under-traded names. The uniform price movements point to heightened momentum trading within the segment.
Profit-Taking Pressures Select Stocks
Despite the overall positive close, some stocks experienced sell pressure as investors locked in gains.
Champion Breweries led the laggards with an 8.51 percent decline, followed by Eunisell Interlinked, Ikeja Hotel, Guinea Insurance, and Omatek Ventures. The losses were largely attributed to short-term profit-taking rather than broad market weakness.
Fidelity Bank Leads Trading by Value
Trading activity was dominated by insurance and banking stocks, reflecting sustained liquidity rotation within the market.
Sovereign Trust Insurance emerged as the most traded stock by volume with over 307 million shares, while Fidelity Bank led by value, recording transactions worth ₦3.14 billion. Linkage Assurance, MBENEFIT, and LASACO Assurance also featured prominently on the activity chart.
The strong showing by Fidelity Bank highlights continued investor interest in tier-two banks amid expectations of earnings growth and balance-sheet expansion.
Bonds and ETFs Attract Institutional Interest
The fixed-income segment recorded selective price appreciation, with the FG162029S1 bond advancing nearly 9 percent.
Exchange-traded funds outperformed, driven by institutional accumulation. The SIAMLETF40, VSPBONDETF, and GREENWETF posted notable gains, reinforcing the growing role of ETFs as portfolio diversification tools on the NGX.
Market Outlook
The Nigerian Exchange closed the session with a positive breadth and sustained investor confidence, supported by strong equity flows and improving participation in ETFs and government securities.
With equity capitalisation firmly above ₦104 trillion, market sentiment remains constructive. However, ongoing profit-taking in select counters suggests a more selective trading environment as investors balance momentum plays with fundamentally driven positioning.
Market participants are expected to maintain focus on banking stocks, liquid insurance names, and ETFs offering broad market exposure as trading continues this week.
