The Nigerian equities market extended its recovery momentum on Monday, July 6, with investors gaining N3.17 trillion. Renewed buying interest across banking, industrial, oil and gas, and insurance stocks propelled the benchmark index back above the 234,000-point mark.

This strong recovery follows last week’s sell-off, as bargain hunters aggressively returned to fundamentally attractive blue-chip stocks. The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 2.15% to close at 234,178.23 points, up from 229,240.19 points recorded on Friday, July 3, while market capitalization climbed to N150.27 trillion. The market’s year-to-date return now stands at 50.49%.

The rally was underpinned by broad institutional buying in heavyweight counters, including First HoldCo, Wema Bank, Aradel Holdings, Dangote Cement, Lafarge Africa, GTCO, Access Holdings, UBA, Fidelity Bank, MTN Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Oando, and NGX Group. Investors are repositioning portfolios ahead of the second-quarter earnings season.

Market Performance Details

Buying interest was broad-based across the market, with gainers overwhelmingly outnumbering losers. All major sectoral indices closed in positive territory.

Highlights of Monday’s trading include:

• All-Share Index: 234,178.23 points, up 2.15%
• Market Capitalisation: N150.27 trillion, up approximately N3.17 trillion
• Volume Traded: 538.64 million shares, up 18.40%
• Value Traded: N38.70 billion, up 40.18%
• Deals: 64,065 transactions, up 32.88%
• Year-to-Date Return: 50.49%
• Market Breadth: 54 gainers against 12 losers

The top 5 gainers were:

• First HoldCo — up 10.00% to N60.50
• Wema Bank — up 10.00% to N29.70
• Aradel Holdings — up 9.99% to N1,403.30
• NGX Group — up 9.96% to N129.75
• Veritas Kapital Assurance — up 9.92% to N1.44

The top 5 losers were:

• Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) — down 10.00% to N133.65
• Vitafoam Nigeria — down 10.00% to N170.10
• Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) — down 9.99% to N157.60
• FTG Insurance — down 9.94% to N2.90
• Thomas Wyatt Nigeria — down 9.45% to N2.49

First HoldCo and Wema Bank led the gainers’ chart after both appreciated by the maximum daily limit of 10%. Aradel Holdings, NGX Group and Veritas Kapital Assurance also posted near-maximum gains. On the losers’ table, NAHCO and Vitafoam Nigeria recorded the steepest declines, shedding 10% each, followed by CAP, FTG Insurance and Thomas Wyatt Nigeria.

Sectoral Performance and Trading Activity

Monday’s rally reflected renewed confidence in fundamentally strong equities, with institutional investors returning aggressively to banking, industrial and energy stocks following last week’s correction.

Industrial Goods emerged as the best-performing sector, advancing 4.89%, supported by strong gains in Dangote Cement (+8.08%) and Lafarge Africa (+7.53%). The Oil & Gas Index followed closely with a 4.22% gain, driven largely by Aradel Holdings’ 9.99% appreciation and gains in Oando.

The Banking Index rose 3.05% as investors accumulated First HoldCo, GTCO, Access Holdings, UBA, Fidelity Bank, FCMB and Wema Bank, reinforcing the sector’s leadership in the current market recovery. Insurance and Commodity indices both advanced 2.70%, while the Consumer Goods Index added 0.57%.

Trading activity also strengthened considerably. Total volume traded increased 18.40% to 538.64 million shares, while turnover jumped 40.18% to N38.70 billion, indicating stronger participation from institutional and high-net-worth investors.

Zenith Bank remained the market’s most actively traded stock by both volume and value, accounting for 89.46 million shares, or 16.61% of total volume, and N9.77 billion, representing 25.24% of total value traded. GTCO and Fidelity Bank followed in traded volume, while MTN Nigeria and Aradel Holdings ranked behind Zenith Bank by value traded.

Monday’s N3.17 trillion rally reversed a significant portion of last week’s losses and pushed the NGX All-Share Index back above the 234,000-point threshold. All six tracked sectoral indices closed higher during the session, underscoring the broad-based nature of the recovery. Market analysts expect positive momentum to persist in the near term, supported by continued portfolio rebalancing, attractive valuations following recent pullbacks, and growing expectations of strong second-quarter corporate earnings.