Equities Investors Gain N1.18trn as Eterna, PZ Cussons Top Rally
The market value of all listed companies on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) surged by N1.18 trillion week on week to N91.14 trillion at the close of the trading session on Friday.
The portfolio value surged due to heightened bargain hunting in the local bourse. Equities investors’ sentiment was broadly bullish despite a decline in the number of deals and transaction value.
The All-Share Index gained 1.02% week on week to close at 143,584.04 points, buoyed by renewed investor appetite for fundamentally strong stocks. NGX market cap rose by 1.31% to N91.14 trillion, driven in part by the listing of 14.14 billion ordinary shares of Wema Bank Plc.
This development contributed to an additional N1.18 trillion in investor gains, Cowry Asset Limited said, noting that market’s resilience was further underscored by a stronger year-to-date return of 39.50%, reflecting sustained bullish sentiment despite intermittent profit-taking.
Stock analysts said evidence of portfolio rebalancing and selective positioning also highlighted investor confidence in the market’s fundamentals. At the close of trading session, market breadth remained positive at 1.23x, with 53 gainers against 43 losers, pointing to cautious but positive optimism.
Overall activity was mixed as the number of deals declined slightly by 0.72% to 115,870 trades, while the value of transactions slumped by 76.62% to N115.52 billion, largely due to fewer block trades.
On the other hand, traded volume increased by 9.35% to 8.40 billion units, suggesting stronger retail and mid-tier participation, according to Cowry Asset.
Due to activities of buy side actors, market performance across the sectors was broadly positive, with five out of six major indices closing higher.
The Oil & Gas index led the gainers with a 5.68% rally, followed by Commodities (+2.94%), Industrial Goods (+1.66%), Banking (+1.17%), and Consumer Goods (+0.13%). The Insurance index was the sole laggard, shedding 2.02% on the back of profit-taking and weak sentiment in select counters.
On the weekly performers and laggards, Eterna Nigeria topped the gainers’ chart with a 32.8% advancement, followed by Enamelwa (+20.9%), PZ (+20.9%), Livingtrust (+18.3%), and Eunisell (+17.6%).
Conversely, Julius Berger (Jberger) led the losers, declining by 17.8% w/w, while Intenegins (-11.1%), Union Dicon (-10.0%), Mansard (-10.0%), and UPL (-9.8%) also closed lower, as investors adopted a cautious stance toward these counters.
“We expect the Nigerian equities market to maintain its bullish momentum in the near term, driven by sustained investor appetite for fundamentally strong stocks and portfolio rebalancing ahead of Q3 2025 reporting and earnings season”, Cowry Asset told investors its update.
The investment firm noted that intermittent profit-taking and fewer block trades could result in mixed activity, the robust year-to-date performance, broad-based sectoral gains, and rising retail participation continue to underpin market stability. Fidelity Bank Delivers 11.1% Gain in Fresh Rally
