Nigerian Stock Market Gains N1.5 Trillion as Investors Drive Upwards Trend

The Nigerian stock market experienced a remarkable surge last week, with investors gaining over N1.5 trillion as the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) continued its upward trend. The market’s performance has deepened its recovery, reversing the weakness seen in November 2025 and showing significant gains across major blue-chip and mid-tier stocks.

Key stocks saw considerable price increases, notably MTN Nigeria, which surged by 13%. Other top performers included Nigerian Breweries, which rose by 9.9%, Dangote Sugar at 11.2%, Zenith Bank at 2.9%, and Guinness, which increased by 10%. These strong gains helped push the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) up by 1.6% week-on-week (WoW), reaching 149,433.25 points, up from 149,040.08 points the previous week.

As a result, the NGX market capitalization, representing the total value of shares listed on the Exchange, rose to N95.264 trillion, compared to N93.722 trillion in the previous week. The market’s Month-to-Date (MtD) and Year-to-Date (YtD) returns also saw improvements, settling at 4.1% and 45.2%, respectively.

Despite the positive trend, market activity showed mixed results. Trading volume dropped by 33.9%, while trading value rose by 1.9% WoW. Sector performance was generally positive, with the Insurance sector seeing a 3.4% increase, Consumer Goods rising by 1.1%, Banking up by 0.4%, and Industrial Goods growing by 0.2%. However, the Oil & Gas sector was the only loser, with a slight decline of 0.1%.

Analysts from Cordros Capital anticipate that trading activity will remain volatile but with a positive bias, as there are no significant external catalysts to influence market sentiment in the short term. Similarly, analysts at InvestData Consulting predict that the broader market sentiment will continue to be mixed-to-positive, with investors focusing on resilient, fundamentally strong stocks. They also highlighted that sectors such as Consumer Goods, Telecoms, Industrials, and Insurance are likely to attract continued inflows. However, the Banking sector may face mild pressure due to ongoing profit-taking and caution in anticipation of regulatory changes.

Global macroeconomic factors, particularly the volatility of crude oil prices, will continue to play a role in shaping the market’s direction. However, analysts expect that domestic liquidity and local institutional behaviors will largely determine the near-term market outlook.