Investors in the Nigerian equities market gained ₦2.642 trillion on Monday as renewed buying in heavyweight stocks lifted market capitalisation to ₦163.16 trillion.
The benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) rose 4,068.27 points, or 1.65%, to close at 251,290.54 points. The gain pushed the index back above the 250,000-point mark.
Market capitalisation rose by ₦2.642 trillion to settle at ₦163.161 trillion on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
The rally was driven by price gains in Dangote Cement, Aradel Holdings, Nigerian Exchange Group, First Holdco and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO).
However, market breadth stayed negative, meaning the rally was not shared across listed stocks.
Market data showed that 24 equities gained while 30 stocks fell. That gave a negative market breadth ratio of about 0.8x.
Analysts said the 1.65% advance was encouraging but warned that the negative breadth weakened the bullish signal. They said sustaining the rally would depend on wider investor participation and continued gains in heavyweight stocks.
Top Gainers and Losers
Dangote Cement led the gainers with a 10% rise to close at ₦1,222.10 per share. Honeywell Flour Mills followed with a 9.78% gain to settle at ₦19.65.
Royal Exchange advanced by 9.18% to close at ₦1.07 per share. Nigerian Exchange Group gained 8.20% to close at ₦165.00, while First Holdco rose 7.56% to settle at ₦155.00.
On the losers’ side, ABC Transport fell 9.59% to close at ₦6.60 per share. Caverton Offshore Support Group dropped 9.38% to ₦4.35, while Livestock Feeds lost 9.09% to close at ₦15.50.
Champion Breweries fell 8.16% to settle at ₦9.00. PZ Cussons Nigeria declined 7.61% to close at ₦63.70 per share.
Trading Activity
Trading activity weakened during the session. Total volume of shares exchanged fell 6.9% to 329.53 million units.
The transactions were valued at ₦25.45 billion and executed in 43,700 deals. The data showed strong price performance alongside a drop in trading volume.
Zenith Bank led trading by volume with 25.919 million shares valued at ₦3.110 billion. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with 23.994 million shares worth ₦979.614 million.
Access Holdings recorded 18.006 million shares valued at ₦487.829 million. Fidelity Bank traded 17.539 million shares, while First Holdco recorded 14.373 million shares.
The market’s gain therefore shows renewed appetite for large-cap stocks. However, the negative breadth means many listed companies still lost ground.
As a result, analysts say the rally needs broader participation to hold.
This Dangote company is really rising, I think people should buy up their shares.