FRI FEB 20 2026-theGBJournal| The Nigerian equities market touched a record high for the second consecutive straight day on Thursday, powered by strong institutional participation and sustained investor confidence.
Gains in MTNN (+4.0%), PRESCO (+7.2%), STANBIC (+9.5%) and OKOMUOIL (+10.0%) stocks drove the All-Share Index (ASI) higher by 1.4% to 193,073.57 points, as market capitalization settled at N123.93 trillion. Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled higher at +16.8% and +24.1%, respectively.
The total volume traded declined by 75.5% to 898.48 million units, valued at NGN38.48 billion, and exchanged in 61,953 deals. JAPAULGOLD was the most traded stock by volume at 80.12 million units, while GTCO was the most traded stock by value at NGN6.20 billion.
Sectoral performance was positive as the Banking (+2.6%), Consumer Goods (+0.5%), Insurance (+0.5%) and Industrial Goods (+0.3%) indices advanced while the Oil & Gas (-0.1%) index declined.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.9x), as 50 tickers gained relative to 26 losers. OKOMUOIL (+10.0%) and DEAPCAP (+10.0%) led the gainers, while MULTIVERSE (-10.0%) and MCNICHOLS (-10.0%) posted the most significant losses of the day.
Analysts at VNL Capital Research say the steady climb in the ASI month-to-date chart suggests accumulated rather than spikes, pointing to portfolio rebalancing into fundamentally sound counters.
Meanwhile, the NASD closed today’s session on a bearish note, with the NASD Security Index (NSI) and market capitalisation shedding 0.15%, closing at 3,908.67 points and N2.34trn, respectively.
Market activity improved significantly during the session, as transaction volume and value appreciated by 2,787.11% and 315.21% respectively.
SDFSTTRUSTMB (+9.17%) led the market gainers, while SDIGIPLC (-8.00%) led the decliners in today’s session.
At the currency market, the naira depreciated by 0.7% to N1,345.00/US$1 at the NAFEM. However, the market remains constructive, underpinned by currency stabilization and selective risk appetite.
The naira closed at N1,593.00 and N1,831.00 against the Euro and GBP respectively.
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