The Nigerian equities market opened the week on a positive note, sustaining its bullish momentum as renewed investor appetite for bellwether stocks lifted the overall performance of the market.

The NGX All-Share Index advanced by 0.65 percent to close at 149,943.27 points, while market capitalisation appreciated by N612 billion to settle at N95.17 trillion.

Consequently, the year-to-date return strengthened to 45.68 percent, reflecting investors’ confidence in market fundamentals ahead of the third-quarter earnings season.

The uptrend was driven mainly by price appreciation in BUA Cement, having appreciated by 6.3 percent; MTN Nigeria by 1.2 percent, and FBN Holdings by 3.5 percent.

Market breadth closed negative as 32 stocks recorded losses against 30 gainers. On the performance board, Union Diagnostics added 10.0 percent; Sovereign Insurance appreciated by 6.4 percent, and Eunisell added 4.5 percent to top the gainers’ chart, while Juli lost 10.0 percent; Thomas Wyatt dipped by 9.6 percent, and DAAR Communications shaved 8.2 percent to lead the losers’ list.

Sectoral performance was broadly positive, with the Industrial Goods Index rising by 2.34 percent, driven by strong demand for BUA Cement shares. Similarly, the Oil and Gas 0.7 percent, Banking 0.5 percent, and Consumer Goods 0.1 percent indices closed in the green, while the Insurance Index declined by 0.7 percent due to profit-taking in select counters.

 

Market activity showed a mixed pattern, as total traded volume dipped by 14.97 percent to 408.97 million units, even as the total value of transactions surged by 59.08 percent to N26.69 billion across 31,287 deals.

Fidelity Bank led the activity chart by volume with 49.46 million units, while Geregu Power Power topped by value with trades worth N9.29 billion.

The positive start to the week reflects sustained investor positioning in fundamentally sound stocks as the market anticipates fresh earnings releases. Analysts believed that short-term sentiment is likely to remain upbeat amid improved liquidity and cautious optimism over macroeconomic stability.

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