Mega stocks: Market capitalisation rises to N9.34tn on renewed buying interest

The Nigerian equities market extended its remarkable bullish run during the week, gaining N9.34 trillion as the trading for the week  buoyed by renewed buying interest across major counters and strengthening investor confidence.

The positive growth alongside investors’ optimism over corporate earnings and macroeconomic reforms helped to sustain demand for Nigerian equities despite relatively subdued trading activity.

Market sentiment also received an additional boost following reports that the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) had emerged as the world’s best-performing equity market in U.S. dollar terms, posting a remarkable 67 per cent year-to-date return and overtaking South Korea’s Kospi, according to Bloomberg’s ranking of 92 global stock exchanges.

As a result the benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 6.35 per cent  week-on-week to close at 243,798.76 points, while market capitalisation gained approximately N9.34 trillion to settle at N156.444 trillion.

The week’s performance lifted the market’s year-to-date return to 56.67%, reinforcing Nigeria’s position as one of the world’s strongest-performing equity markets in 2026.

The  Market breadth remained firmly positive, with 60 advancers against 28 decliners and 58 stocks remained stable

This translates to a healthy breadth ratio, indicating a broad-based buying interest across large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks.

Although trading activity lowered during the week, market conviction remained strong.

Total trading volume and the number of deals declined by  4 .52 per cent and 2.56 per cent, respectively, suggesting slightly lower market participation. However, transaction value surged by 42.86 to N220.568 billion, as investors rotated into higher-value and fundamentally attractive stocks. In total, 3.648 billion shares valued at N220.568 billion  exchanged hands across 252,247 deals against 3.821 billion worth N154.393 billion in 258.567 deals reported the previous week.

Trading for the week showed that The Financial Services Industry  led the activity chart with 2.899 billion shares valued at N147.360 billion traded in 106,603 deals, contributing 79.48 per cent and 66.81 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Services Industry followed with 164.914 million shares worth N3.615 billion in 16,375 deals. Third place was the Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover of 157.451 million shares worth N7.777 billion in 27,950 deals.

Trading in the top three equities, namely First Holdco Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc, accounted for 1.745 billion shares worth N121.828 billion in 31,053 deals, contributing 47.85 per cent and 55.23 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.