MON MAR 16 2026-theGBJournal| Nigerian stocks gained ground on Monday as investors assess recent market gains, with dividend expectations providing some support for select counters.
Gains in BUACEMENT (+10.0%), MTNN (+2.4%), ZENITHBANK (+7.4%), and DANGCEM (+1.0%) lifted the benchmark All-Share Index by 1.6%, breaching the 200,000-point threshold to close at 201,474.89 points. Market capitalisation also expanded by N1.97 trillion, to settle at N129.33 trillion.
Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled higher at +4.5% and +29.5%, respectively.
The total volume traded advanced by 60.4% to 948.21 million units, valued at NGN49.17 billion, and exchanged in 72,735 deals.
SOVRENINS was the most traded stock by volume at 72.56 million units, while ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by value at N5.96 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed as the Industrial Goods (+4.5%) and Banking (+2.2%) Indices closed higher, while Insurance (-0.4%) and Oil & Gas (-0.1%) Indices closed lower. The Consumer Goods Index closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.3x), as 37 tickers gained relative to 29 losers. BUACEMENT (+10.0%) and PREMPAINTS (+9.8%) posted the most significant gains of the day, while VFDGROUP (-10.0%) and ROYALEX (-9.6%) led the laggards.
Meanwhile, the NASD market opened the week bearish, with the NASD Security Index (NSI) and market capitalisation dipping by 1.18%, to settle at 4,160.46 points and N2.49trn, respectively.
Market activity was mixed, with volume increasing by 179.52% and value of transactions shedding 68.44%.
SDFCWAMCO (-1.17%) led the market decliners, with no gainers recorded in today’s session
At the currency market, the Naira rose by 0.2% to N1,365.61/US$ at the official foreign exchange market.
This comes after a 1.98% w/w (N27.02) appreciation to N1,366.23/US$1 by close of trade Friday.
In the parallel market, the currency mirrored this trend, appreciating by 1.06% w/w
(N15.00) to close at N1,415.00/US$1.
However, this widened the premium between the two markets to N48.77/US$1, from N36.74/US$1 in the previous week, as gains recorded at the official window outpaced those in the parallel market.
X-@theGBJournal|Facebook-the Government and Business Journal|email:gbj@govbusinessjournal.com|govandbusinessj@gmail.com
