Nigeria’s equities market sustained its upward momentum on Tuesday, albeit marginally, as cautious optimism among investors kept the bulls in control despite a weak market breadth and declining trading activity.

The benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange edged up 0.06 per cent to close at 218,249.81 points, reinforcing the market’s strong run and pushing the year-to-date return further to 40.25 per cent. Market capitalisation also advanced by N87.53 billion to settle at N140.52 trillion.

Tuesday’s session, however, revealed underlying fragility beneath the surface rally. Market breadth closed negative at 0.58x, with 25 stocks recording gains against 43 decliners, signalling that the broader market sentiment remains mixed despite the index’s upward trajectory.

Leading the gainers’ chart were NASCON Allied Industries Plc, Union Dicon Salt Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, Trans-Nationwide Express Plc, and UACN Plc, reflecting pockets of buying interest across select counters. On the flip side, Legend Internet Plc, Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Access Holdings Plc, and Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc posted the most significant losses, dragging on overall market sentiment.

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Sectoral performance painted a similarly mixed picture. The Insurance and Industrial Goods indices recorded gains of 0.19 per cent and 1.64 per cent, respectively, buoyed by renewed investor interest. Conversely, the Banking index declined by 1.30 per cent, while the Oil & Gas sector dipped by 0.09 per cent. The Consumer Goods index also showed mild weakness, even as the Commodity sector remained flat.

Trading activity weakened notably during the session, underscoring a degree of investor caution. Total deals fell by 19.36 per cent to 61,617 trades, while volume traded declined by 14.38 per cent to 842.48 million shares. Turnover also dropped by 11.64 per cent to N44.86 billion.

The current rally is being driven largely by strategic positioning ahead of anticipated full-year corporate earnings releases and dividend declarations, which traditionally spur accumulation in fundamentally strong stocks.

Looking ahead, the market is expected to maintain its bullish bias in the near term, supported by continued investor interest in dividend-paying equities. However, analysts warn that the negative breadth and declining activity may signal a more selective rally, where gains are concentrated in a handful of stocks rather than broad-based across the market.

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