THUR JULY 16 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s equities market closed higher on Wednesday, with strong buying interest in banking and financial stocks lifting the benchmark index despite mixed sector performance and weaker trading activity.
The naira, however, came under renewed pressure in the official foreign exchange market, depreciating 0.4% against the U.S. dollar.
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) ended the session on a bullish note, as gains in FIRSTHOLDCO (+10.0%), TRANSCORP (+6.2%), STANBIC (+2.4%) and GTCO (+1.1%) drove the All-Share Index up 0.3% to close at 242,366.75 points.
The advance lifted the market’s month-to-date return to 5.6%, while the year-to-date gain improved to 55.8%.
Trading activity was subdued compared with the previous session.
Total volume traded fell 28.6% to 453.17 million shares, while the value of transactions stood at ₦27.16 billion across 39,942 deals.
FIRSTHOLDCO emerged as the most actively traded stock, accounting for 78.66 million shares worth ₦6.19 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed.
The Banking Index led the gains, rising 2.2%, followed by the Insurance Index, which advanced 0.7%.
In contrast, the Consumer Goods Index declined 0.3%, while the Industrial Goods Index fell 0.2%.
The Oil and Gas Index closed unchanged.
Market breadth remained positive, with 32 stocks advancing against 17 decliners, reflecting continued investor optimism.
FIRSTHOLDCO topped the gainers’ chart with a 10.0% increase, followed by THOMASWY, which rose 9.3%. On the losers’ table, TRANSEXPR shed 9.9%, while INTBREW declined 6.1%.
In the foreign exchange market, the naira depreciated by 0.4% against the U.S. dollar, closing at N1,383.50/$ in the official market.
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