The Nigerian equities market concluded the week ending July 10, 2026, on a significantly positive note, with the benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) advancing by 6.35% week-on-week to close at 243,798.76 points. This strong performance saw market capitalization gain approximately N9.34 trillion, settling at N156.44 trillion, marking one of the market’s strongest weekly rebounds this year following June’s correction.

Despite the robust weekly gains, the market held nearly steady on Friday, July 10, 2026. The NGX All-Share Index depreciated marginally by 0.065% to close at 243,798.76 points, virtually unchanged from Thursday’s close of 243,958.73 points. Market capitalisation also depreciated marginally by N102.65 billion to close at N156.54 trillion, with the year-to-date return unchanged at 56.77% after four consecutive sessions of remarkable gains.

Trading activity for the week saw a total of 3.648 billion shares worth N220.568 billion exchanged hands in 251,861 deals. This compares to 3.821 billion shares worth N154.393 billion in 258,567 deals the previous week. Transaction value rose sharply even as volume and deal count declined, indicating a rotation into higher-value, fundamentally attractive counters.

On Friday alone, trading activity collapsed sharply from Thursday’s extraordinary levels. Total volume fell 73.36% to 441.27 million shares, while value traded plunged 82.67% to N19.40 billion. This dramatic decline directly reflects the absence of the 1.26 billion First HoldCo shares worth N85.61 billion that dominated Thursday’s session. Stripped of that single trade, Friday’s activity levels were broadly in line with recent session norms, with 44,938 transactions, up 0.35% from Thursday’s 44,780.

Market sentiment received a fresh boost after reports emerged that the Nigerian Exchange had become the world’s best-performing equity market in dollar terms, posting a 67% year-to-date return and overtaking South Korea’s Kospi, according to Bloomberg’s ranking of 92 global exchanges. The rally lifted the market’s year-to-date return to 56.67%, reinforcing Nigeria’s position among the world’s strongest-performing equity markets in 2026, and reversing the prior week’s pullback from May’s record highs.

Market breadth flipped decisively positive for the week, with 60 equities advancing against 28 decliners, an improvement from 22 gainers and 57 losers the week before. Fifty-eight equities closed unchanged, down from 67 in the prior week.

All major sectoral indices closed higher for the week, with the exception of the NGX Growth and NGX Sovereign Bond indices, which shed 7.43% and 0.02% respectively. Industrial Goods led sector gains, advancing 10.46%, driven by strong buying in Dangote Cement and Cutix. Oil & Gas followed with an 8.85% gain, supported by renewed demand for Aradel Holdings and Japaul Gold. Consumer Goods rose 6.12%, lifted by International Breweries, Honeywell Flour Mills, and Cadbury Nigeria. Banking climbed 4.12%, on the back of gains in Jaiz Bank, Wema Bank, and Fidelity Bank. Insurance advanced 3.92%, driven by International Energy Insurance, Consolidated Hallmark, and Veritas Kapital.

On Friday, the Banking Index recorded the sharpest sectoral decline of the day, falling 0.78% to 2,149.14 points, a pullback from Wednesday’s 1.33% advance. The Oil & Gas Index followed with a 0.52% decline to 5,255.03 points, as selling in energy names moderated the sector’s recent recovery momentum. On the positive side, the Consumer Goods Index led all sectors with a 0.49% gain to 4,691.90 points. The Insurance Index advanced marginally by 0.06% to 1,132.98 points. The Industrial Goods Index and Commodity Index both closed flat.

The week’s top 10 best performing stocks were: International Breweries Plc, up 40.00% to N13.30 from N9.50; RT Briscoe Plc, up 32.02% to N13.40 from N10.15; Livestock Feeds Plc, up 28.47% to N9.25 from N7.20; First HoldCo Plc, up 25.82% to N69.20 from N55.00; Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc, up 23.65% to N9.15 from N7.40; UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust, up 22.41% to N10.65 from N8.70; Honeywell Flour Mill Plc, up 21.43% to N17.00 from N14.00; FTN Cocoa Processors Plc, up 21.13% to N9.00 from N7.43; Aradel Holdings Plc, up 19.67% to N1,526.80 from N1,275.80; and C&I Leasing Plc, up 19.63% to N6.40 from N5.35. Aradel Holdings’ rebound is notable given the stock opened lower following its N23 ex-dividend markdown, with renewed buying interest helping to drive the sector’s 8.85% weekly gain.

The week’s top 10 losers were: McNichols Plc, down 28.57% to N5.00 from N7.00; Thomas Wyatt Nigeria Plc, down 11.64% to N2.43 from N2.75; Geregu Power Plc, down 10.00% to N825.70 from N917.40; CAP Plc, down 9.99% to N157.60 from N175.10; Guinness Nigeria Plc, down 9.99% to N329.00 from N365.50; Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, down 9.98% to N85.70 from N95.20; Mecure Industries Plc, down 9.96% to N85.45 from N94.90; Haldane McCall Plc, down 9.95% to N3.53 from N3.92; LivingTrust Mortgage Bank Plc, down 9.84% to N3.39 from N3.76; and Fortis Global Insurance Plc, down 9.63% to N2.91 from N3.22.

On Friday, Guinness Nigeria Plc shed 9.99%, wiping N79.95 billion from the brewer’s market value in a single session, closing at N329.00. This decline was the most consequential move of the day and comes against the backdrop of sustained profit-taking in consumer goods counters that have delivered outsized year-to-date gains. Stanbic IBTC Holdings was the most significant blue-chip decliner among financial stocks, falling 6.63% to N152.20. Fidelity Bank, which had surged 9.97% on Wednesday, gave back 2.56% to close at N19.00. GTCO slipped 0.71% to N126.00. Access Holdings eased 0.20% to N24.95. First HoldCo declined 0.50% to N69.20, after Thursday’s near-maximum daily gain. Conversely, Oando advanced 5.00% to N39.90. Unilever Nigeria rose 2.46% to N125.00. UBA gained 2.37% to N41.00. NAHCO added 2.09% to N163.35. Cadbury Nigeria rose 1.62% to N62.60. UAC of Nigeria climbed 1.07% to N184.95. Transcorp added 1.00% to N40.50. Zenith Bank edged up 0.73% to N110.80.

The Financial Services Industry led activity by volume for the week, with 2.899 billion shares worth N147.360 billion traded in 106,603 deals, contributing 79.48% and 66.81% of total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Services Industry followed with 164.914 million shares worth N3.615 billion, while Consumer Goods came third with 157.451 million shares worth N7.777 billion. Trading in First HoldCo, Zenith Bank, and Fidelity Bank, the week’s most active stocks by volume, accounted for 1.745 billion shares worth N121.828 billion, representing 47.85% and 55.23% of total equity turnover volume and value, respectively. Access Holdings led by volume on Friday with 40.17 million shares.

The week featured several notable corporate developments. Lafarge Africa Plc officially changed its name to HBM Nigeria Plc, with its trading symbol switching from WAPCO to HBMNG, following shareholder approval at its April 30, 2026 AGM. Additionally, the suspension on trading in Thomas Wyatt Nigeria Plc shares was lifted on Monday, July 6, 2026, after the company filed its outstanding financial statements in compliance with NGX default filing rules.

The ASI has risen approximately 8.8% from its July 2 correction low of 224,321.97 points to 243,954.45 points at Friday’s close. The year-to-date return of 56.77% is the highest weekly close recorded since the June correction began in late May, indicating that the market has recovered the bulk of June’s losses in under two weeks. Analysts expect market sentiment to remain constructive into the coming week, as investors continue positioning ahead of H1 2026 earnings season. However, elevated fixed-income yields are likely to compete for investor flows, which could temper the pace of further equity gains.