NIGERIA’s stock market reached a historic high on Monday, after the All-Share Index climbed above the 197,000 level for the first time since the creation of the market benchmark.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange Group (MGX) showed the index advanced by 228.8 points to close at 197,197.0, extending the market’s strong run this year.
Market turnover also strengthened during the session as investors exchanged 762.5 million shares, compared with 585 million shares traded in the previous session, suggesting improving – though still cautious – market participation.
Total market value rose slightly alongside the index, with equities capitalisation settling at N126.5 trillion across 86,488 transactions, up marginally from N126.43 trillion recorded at the close of trading on Friday.
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Energy firm Aradel recorded the highest value of trades during the session at N5.07 billion, while Zenith Bank followed with N3.6 billion worth of transactions, making both stocks central to the day’s market activity.
Market signals
Despite the modest daily gain, the broader market trend remained strong. The year-to-date return held at 26.72 percent, reflecting sustained investor interest in Nigerian equities.
Buying momentum pushed several stocks to the top of the gainers’ chart. Conoil, Omatek and Legend Internet each rose by the maximum daily limit of 10 percent.
On the other hand, some stocks faced heavy selling pressure. Aluminum Extrusion Industries led the laggards with a 10 percent decline, while SCOA dropped by 9.90 percent.
Most actively traded stocks
Fortis Global Insurance dominated trading by volume with 127.4 million shares exchanged. Access Holdings recorded 48.2 million shares in trades, while Zenith Bank followed with 39.7 million shares. Chams Holding and Jaiz Bank also featured prominently with 30 million and 27.2 million shares traded respectively.
When measured by value, Aradel again topped the market with N5.07 billion in turnover. Zenith Bank followed with N3.6 billion, while NGX Group posted N2.4 billion. Okomu Oil and MTN Nigeria completed the list with N2.07 billion and N1.8 billion respectively.
Top gainers
Conoil — up 10.00% to N185.90
Omatek — up 10.00% to N2.42
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Legend Internet — up 10.00% to N7.04
NGX Group — up 9.97% to N166.00
Oando — up 9.96% to N54.65
Top losers
Aluminum Extrusion — down 10.00% to N13.95
SCOA — down 9.90% to N30.95
RT Briscoe — down 9.87% to N10.87
Sunu Assurance — down 9.81% to N4.32
Union Dicon — down 9.76% to N14.80.
Banking heavyweights
The FUGAZ banking group also delivered mixed results. Zenith Bank recorded a slight gain of 0.05 percent. In contrast, First HoldCo and Access Holdings fell by 3.85 percent and 3.66 percent respectively.
UBA lost 1.26 percent, while GTCO dropped 0.84 percent.
Market outlook
Although the market closed higher, the strength of the rally appears moderate as trading volumes only gradually improved.
Technical indicators suggested the market might be entering overbought territory, which could trigger mild price corrections in some equities in the coming trading sessions.
Any pullback is expected to remain limited unless selling pressure intensifies significantly.
