The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) wrapped up the trading week on a positive note, powered by significant activity in the financial services sector. The market's benchmark index recorded a notable gain, reflecting renewed investor confidence and robust trading volumes.
Market Performance and Key Metrics
The NGX All-Share Index appreciated by 2.36% over the week, closing at 166,129.50 points. This upward movement propelled the total market capitalisation to N106.354 trillion, marking a 2.48% increase. The trading activity was vigorous, with a total turnover of 4.607 billion shares valued at N130.636 billion exchanged in 263,439 deals. This represents an increase from the previous week's 4.164 billion shares worth N94.026 billion traded in 248,254 deals.
Market breadth remained positive, indicating a bullish sentiment among investors. A total of 80 equities advanced in price during the week, while 17 declined, and 50 closed unchanged. This shows a slightly weaker breadth compared to the prior week, where 84 stocks gained.
Financial Services Sector Dominates Trading
The Financial Services industry was the undisputed engine of the week's activity. Measured by volume, the sector led with 3.126 billion shares valued at N47.225 billion traded in 94,186 deals. This accounted for a dominant 67.84% of the total equity turnover volume and 36.15% of the total value. The Services industry followed with 353.436 million shares worth N5.096 billion, and the ICT industry ranked third with 277.263 million shares valued at N18.009 billion.
Trading in the top three equities by volume—Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Access Holdings Plc, and Linkage Assurance Plc—was particularly heavy. Together, they accounted for 1.406 billion shares worth N9.735 billion in 11,732 deals, representing 30.52% of the total volume.
Top Gainers and Decliners
The week saw impressive rallies from several stocks. The top price gainers were led by NCR (Nigeria) Plc, which soared by 60.79% to close at N128.55. SCOA Nigeria Plc followed with a 59.36% gain, and DEAP Capital Management & Trust Plc rose by 48.67%. Other notable gainers included Jaiz Bank Plc and Omatek Ventures Plc.
On the flip side, a handful of stocks faced selling pressure. Ikeja Hotel Plc led the decliners, dropping by 12.38% to N35.05. Austin Laz & Company Plc fell by 9.20%, and Eterna Plc declined by 7.71%. Universal Insurance Plc and Eunisell Interlinked Plc also featured among the top losers for the week.
All sectoral indices closed higher except for the NGX AFR Dividend Yield Index, which dipped slightly by 0.15%. This broad-based growth across most sectors underscores the overall positive sentiment that characterized the week's trading on the Nigerian bourse.
