Nigeria’s equities market reached a fresh all-time high on Monday as Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index crossed the 250,000-point mark for the first time, extending a rally that has delivered more than 60 percent in returns to investors this year.
The benchmark index advanced 0.14 percent to close at 250,156.80 points, compared with 249,804.56 points in the previous session, taking its year-to-date return to 60.76 percent.
Market capitalisation also rose by about N228 billion to N162.39 trillion from N162.16 trillion, representing a 0.14 percent increase.
The record close extends the strong performance of Nigerian equities in 2026, with increased investor activity reflected in both trading volumes and the number of transactions.
Trading data for the session showed that the number of deals jumped 54.86 percent to 68,507 from 44,239 in the previous session, while the volume of shares traded increased 9.15 percent to 574.14 million units from 525.99 million. Transaction value, however, declined 60.73 percent to N38.05 billion from N96.89 billion.
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Market breadth remained positive at 1.5 times, with 39 stocks advancing against 26 decliners. SUNU Assurance, NASCON Allied Industries, Omatek Ventures and Thomas Wyatt led the gainers, rising 10 percent each, while Consolidated Hallmark Holdings advanced 9.80 percent.
Okomu Oil Palm led the laggards, declining 10 percent to N1,276.20. Custodian Investment fell 9.13 percent, Sovereign Trust Insurance declined 8.64 percent, Haldane McCall lost 8.33 percent, while Ellah Lakes dropped 5.39 percent.
Financial services stocks dominated trading activity, accounting for 418.77 million shares, or 72.94 percent of total volume. Zenith Bank was the most actively traded stock by volume, with 77.07 million shares, and also led trading by value with transactions worth N9.90 billion.
Year-to-date equities turnover rose to N7.20 trillion, while average daily turnover stood at N40.23 billion.
Sectoral performance was largely positive. The NGX Banking Index gained 0.68 percent, the Industrial Index advanced 0.47 percent and the Consumer Goods Index rose 0.32 percent. The Oil and Gas Index declined 0.40 percent.
Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos.
Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA).
Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.
