THUR APRIL 16 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s financial markets posted a largely positive outing, with equities extending their bullish run on strong buying interest, fixed income yields easing marginally on demand, and the naira weakening slightly in the FX market amid persistent pressure.
The bulls continued to dominate the stock market as gains in MTNN (+2.5%), ARADEL (+10.0%), FIRSTHOLDCO (+9.4%), and ETI (+10.0%) lifted the All-Share Index by 1.2% to 211,912.38 points, pushing Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns to +5.3% and +36.2%, respectively.
However, trading activity softened, with total volume declining by 17.2% to 584.96 million units valued at NGN34.76 billion across 45,559 deals, while ZENITHBANK led both volume and value charts.
Sector performance was broadly positive, led by Oil and Gas (+4.8%) and Banking (+2.5%), while Insurance (-0.7%) lagged.
Market breadth remained strong at 2.3x, reflecting 44 gainers against 19 losers, with TRANSEXPR and GUINEAINS topping advancers, and IKEJAHOTEL and WAPIC leading decliners.
The NASD OTC market extended its bearish run for the fourth consecutive session, as the NASD Securities Index (NSI) declined by 0.29% to close at 3,862.98 points. Accordingly, market capitalisation weakened by the same margin to settle at N2.31trn.
However, market activity advanced, with total volume and value traded appreciating by 18.35% and 124.96%, respectively, indicating improved investor participation in the market.
On the performance table, SDUBNPROP (+9.17%) emerged as the top gainer, while SDCSCSPLC (-2.00%) topped the decliners for the session.
In the FX market, the naira depreciated marginally by 0.2% to NGN1,345.00/USD at the official window.
Meanwhile, the fixed income market saw mixed but generally bullish sentiment, as the overnight lending rate rose by 11bps to 22.3%.
Treasury bills traded positively, with average yields declining by 2bps to 17.4% across the curve, supported by demand at the short, mid, and long tenors.
Similarly, OMO yields eased by 3bps to 20.7%.
In contrast, the FGN bond market was largely quiet, with average yields unchanged at 15.5%, reflecting a cautious trading environment.
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