Nigerian equities market opened the week on a strong footing on Monday, with the benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) rising 1.21 per cent to a fresh record high of 248,529.75 points, as renewed buying interest lifted total market capitalisation by N1.91 trillion to N160.42 trillion.

The latest rally pushed the market’s year-to-date return to 59.71 per cent, further extending the remarkable gains recorded by equities investors since the beginning of the year.

According to the Nigerian Exchange’s Daily Official List, the ASI closed at 248,529.75 points, compared with 245,573.60 points at the previous trading session.

The index also recorded an intraday high of 248,529.75 points, while the five-day average index stood at 245,805.55 points.

Despite the strong index performance, market breadth remained negative, indicating that the rally was driven by gains in selected heavyweight stocks rather than broad-based buying.

A total of 36 stocks declined against 23 gainers, producing a market breadth of 0.6x.

Among the major decliners were AVACAP, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Caverton Offshore Support Group, Ikeja Hotel and FTN Cocoa Processors, while Fidson Healthcare, Chams Holding Company, Nahco, Airtel Africa and Sovereign Trust Insurance recorded notable gains.

The divergent market breadth highlights the continued presence of profit-taking pressure even as the broader market maintains its bullish trajectory.

Sectoral performance was equally mixed, with the Consumer Goods Index gaining 0.76 per cent to emerge as the major positive contributor to the session.

The gains in consumer goods stocks, however, were countered by declines across most other major sectors.

The Insurance Index fell 1.64 per cent, while the Banking Index declined 0.24 per cent. The Oil and Gas Index shed 0.09 per cent, while the Industrial Goods Index eased 0.05 per cent. The Commodity sector closed flat.

The sector performance underscores the selective nature of current investor positioning, with buying interest concentrated in particular stocks rather than spread uniformly across the market.

Trading activity presented a mixed picture, with investors executing 59,185 deals, representing a significant 39 per cent increase from the previous session.

Volume traded also rose 1.37 per cent to 1.14 billion shares, indicating increased participation in the market.

However, despite the increase in volume and transaction count, total turnover declined 25.11 per cent to N27.02 billion, suggesting that trading was concentrated more heavily in lower-priced stocks.

The latest performance consolidates the market’s extraordinary run in 2026 and takes the ASI further above the 245,000-point level.

With the index now up 59.71 per cent year-to-date, the Nigerian equities market remains one of the strongest-performing asset classes for domestic investors, although the widening gap between gainers and decliners signals that profit-taking could increasingly influence short-term trading.

Analysts expect the bullish momentum to persist as investor sentiment continues to tilt positive, although residual profit-taking and valuation concerns could moderate the pace of further gains.

Culled from Nigerian Tribune