The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed on a positive note yesterday, with the All-Share Index (ASI) rising by 125.86 points, or 0.09%, to settle at 145,880.77 points. Market capitalisation also advanced by ₦79 billion, ending the session at ₦92.294 trillion.
The uptrend was driven by gains in large- and mid-cap stocks, including BUA Foods, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Julius Berger, NEM Insurance, and Nigerian Enamelware.
Market Outlook
United Capital Plc expects investor interest to remain focused on fundamentally strong financial services stocks—particularly banks and insurers—due to their solid earnings performance and attractive valuations. However, the firm cautioned that some profit-taking may occur in heavily capitalised stocks after recent rallies, with market activity likely to reflect cautious sentiment marked by selective buying and intermittent sell-offs.
Gainers and Losers
Market breadth closed positive, with 41 gainers against 36 losers.
- Top Gainers: AIICO Insurance, SUNU Assurance, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, UPDC, Veritas Kapital Assurance, Universal Insurance, and The Initiates Plc (TIP) all rose 10% each, closing at ₦3.85, ₦5.50, ₦111.10, ₦8.69, ₦2.31, ₦1.21, and ₦13.20 per share, respectively. Cornerstone Insurance gained 9.98% to ₦7.05, while AXA Mansard Insurance advanced 9.97% to ₦16.10.
- Top Losers: Abbey Mortgage Bank and Associated Bus Company shed 10% each, closing at ₦5.67 and ₦4.50, respectively. UACN followed with a 9.99% drop to ₦75.25, Haldane McCall declined 9.92% to ₦4.36, and VFD Group fell 9.70% to ₦12.10.
Trading Volume and Value
Total trading volume dropped 4.5% to 2.116 billion units, worth ₦19.40 billion, exchanged in 40,435 deals.
- Most Active Stocks: Linkage Assurance led activity with 703.588 million shares valued at ₦1.587 billion. Universal Insurance traded 230.536 million shares worth ₦278.91 million, while AIICO Insurance exchanged 154.727 million shares valued at ₦595.34 million. Sterling Financial Holdings transacted 120.198 million shares worth ₦987.86 million, and Veritas Kapital Assurance traded 29.051 million shares valued at ₦668.23 million.
