Access Holdings Extends Trading Dominance With Nearly 130 Million Shares

Access Holdings Plc cemented its position as the Nigerian Exchange’s (NGX) liquidity leader on Tuesday after nearly 130 million shares changed hands, extending a sustained run of institutional accumulation that has made banking stocks the market’s primary destination for capital.

The latest trading volume surpassed the 126.54 million shares traded on August 31, making it a second consecutive session in which Access Holdings led the market by a considerable margin.

The sustained buying reflects continued investor confidence in the banking giant and reinforces the financial sector’s role as the principal driver of liquidity on the Exchange.

Access Holdings accounted for nearly 20 percent of the day’s total trading volume of 651.32 million shares, highlighting the stock’s outsized contribution to overall market activity.

Its performance came as the Nigerian Exchange extended its recent rally, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) gaining 0.77 percent to close at 246,082.63 points, while equity market capitalisation increased to N158.956 trillion.

Overall, investors traded 651.32 million shares valued at N40.77 billion in 43,760 deals, pushing daily turnover above N40 billion for the first time in the recent market recovery.

While Access Holdings dominated trading volume, GTCO Plc generated the highest transaction value among the day’s most actively traded equities.

Investors exchanged 32.10 million shares worth N4.29 billion, underscoring continued institutional interest in Nigeria’s leading banking stocks.

Nigerian Breweries Plc also featured among the market’s most actively traded equities by value, while CMFC and Linkage Assurance Plc ranked among the leading stocks by trading volume.

The latest figures reinforce a pattern that has emerged over recent trading sessions.

Throughout the final week of August and into September, banking stocks have consistently accounted for the largest share of market liquidity.

Access Holdings, GTCO, UBA, Zenith Bank and First HoldCo have repeatedly dominated daily turnover, suggesting institutional investors continue to concentrate capital in large-cap financial stocks even as buying gradually expands into other sectors.

The consistency of Access Holdings’ trading activity is particularly noteworthy.

Unlike one-off spikes driven by speculative interest, the lender has maintained exceptionally high turnover across consecutive trading sessions, indicating sustained demand rather than temporary market activity.

That trend has coincided with improving liquidity across the broader market.

Trading value has increased steadily from N23.83 billion on August 24 to N34.52 billion on August 26, N35.15 billion on August 27, N38.70 billion on August 31, and N40.77 billion on September 1.

Although buying interest has begun spreading to sectors such as insurance, consumer goods and technology, Tuesday’s trading once again demonstrated that banking stocks remain the market’s liquidity anchor.

With nearly 130 million shares changing hands in a single session, Access Holdings not only retained its leadership in trading activity but also reinforced its position as one of the primary channels through which institutional capital is flowing into the Nigerian equity market.