FRI MAY 01 2026-theGBJournal| Nigerian equities market rose on Friday to close higher for the fifth consecutive time. This comes as investors digested strong Q1-26 corporate earnings releases.
Specifically, bargain hunting in BUACEMENT (+24.8%), MTNN(+11.6%), DANGCEM(+9.0%), BUAFOODS(+6.7%), AIRTELAFRI(+10.0%), ARADEL (+20.5%) and WAPCO (+18.6%) lifted the All-Share Index and market capitalization to 7.3% w/w to 242,227.81 points and N155.994 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX CG, NGX Banking, NGX Insurance, NGX AFR Bank Value, NGX MERI Value and NGX Sovereign Bond which depreciated by 0.80%, 5.52%, 1.13%, 5.80%, 3.31% and 0.26% respectively.
Consequently, the month-to-date and year-to-date returns settled at 20.4% and +55.7%, respectively.
On market activity, total volume and value traded rose by 1.9% w/w and 12.0% w/w, respectively. Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Industrial Goods (+16.9%), Oil & Gas (+14.4%), and Consumer Goods (+3.2%) indices advanced, while the Banking (-5.5%) and Insurance (-1.1%) indices declined.
The NASD OTC market closed on a positive note, with the NSI gaining 0.16% to settle at 4,005.78 points, while market capitalisation rose in tandem by 0.16% to N2.40 trillion.
Trading activity strengthened markedly, as volume surged 184.32% and value edged higher by 5.72%.
SDFOODCPT topped the gainers with an 8.99% increase, while SDFCWAMCO led the laggards, declining by 10.82%.
Meanwhile, the naira depreciated by 1.2% w/w to NGN1,376.00/USD, as local demand outpaced weak offshore supply.
In the forwards market, the naira rates depreciated across the 1-month (-1.3% to NGN1,401.44/USD), 3-month (-1.3% to NGN1,440.92/USD), 6-month (-1.4% to NGN1,497.40/USD) and 1-year (-1.6% to NGN1,610.95/USD) contracts.
Gross external reserves declined by USD65.50 million to USD48.37 billion (28 April 2026), marking the seventh consecutive week of decline as the CBN resumed market intervention with a USD150.00 million sale to support FX demand.
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