Investors on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) gained ₦1.175 trillion in a four-day trading week, as the All-Share Index (ASI) and market capitalisation appreciated by 1.02 per cent and 1.31 per cent, closing at 143,584.04 points and ₦91.135 trillion respectively.
The performance marked an improvement from last week’s figures of 142,133.03 points and ₦89.960 trillion, underscoring renewed investor confidence despite the shortened trading period. The federal government had declared Wednesday, October 1, a public holiday to commemorate Independence Day.
Most market indices closed in positive territory, except the NGX Premium, NGX Insurance, NGX AFR Dividend Yield, and NGX MERI Value indices, which dipped by 0.05 per cent, 2.02 per cent, 2.78 per cent, and 0.81 per cent respectively. The NGX ASeM and NGX Sovereign Bond indices closed flat.
Market activity remained robust, with a turnover of 8.403 billion shares valued at ₦115.501 billion across 115,801 deals. This represented an increase from the previous week’s 7.684 billion shares worth ₦494.126 billion traded in 116,645 deals.
The Financial Services Industry dominated the chart, accounting for 7.750 billion shares worth ₦88.153 billion exchanged in 54,074 deals — representing 92.24 per cent and 76.32 per cent of total trading volume and value respectively. The ICT sector followed with 181.005 million shares worth ₦4.077 billion, while the Consumer Goods sector recorded 126.554 million shares valued at ₦6.274 billion.
Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc led trading activity, jointly contributing 77.66 per cent of total volume and 45.63 per cent of total value, with 6.525 billion shares worth ₦52.699 billion traded in 8,820 deals.
A total of 53 equities appreciated during the week, up from 32 in the previous week, while 43 stocks declined, compared to 51 previously. Fifty-one equities remained unchanged.
Top gainers included Eterna Plc (+32.80%), Nigerian Enamelware (+20.94%), PZ Cussons (+20.87%), LivingTrust Mortgage Bank (+18.25%), and Eunisell Interlinked (+17.56%). Meanwhile, Julius Berger (-₦26.60), International Energy Insurance (-₦0.37), Union Dicon Salt (-₦0.90), AXA Mansard (-₦1.60), and University Press (-₦0.59) led the decliners.
In a related development, the NGX announced the listing of an additional 14.14 billion ordinary shares of Wema Bank Plc following the bank’s Rights Issue of 14.29 billion shares at ₦10.45 per share on a basis of two new shares for every three held as of March 5, 2025.
With the new listing, Wema Bank’s total issued and fully paid-up shares increased from 21.43 billion to 35.57 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.
