FRI APRIL 24 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s equities market maintained its bullish momentum for a fourth consecutive week, buoyed by strong investor positioning in banking and industrial stocks alongside positive early signals from Q1 2026 earnings.
However, this upbeat sentiment in the capital market contrasted with renewed pressure on the naira, which weakened across both spot and forward markets as FX demand continued to outstrip supply despite offshore inflows.
The bourse closed higher, with broad-based gains across key sectors lifting the NGX All-Share Index and market capitalization up by 3.94% to close the week
at 225,722.49 and N145.335 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Growth and NGX
Commodity which depreciated by 0.02% and 0.41% respectively while the NGX Sovereign
Bond index closed flat.
Market performance was driven by notable rallies in bellwether stocks including BUAFOODS (+7.9%), DANGCEM (+8.1%), WAPCO (+21.4%), FIRSTHOLDCO (+17.2%), ZENITHBANK (+7.9%), BUACEMENT (+2.5%), and UBA (+14.6%),
Consequently, month-to-date and year-to-date returns strengthened to 16.9% and 41.9%, respectively.
Trading in the top three equities, namely Access Holdings Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and FirstHoldCo Plc (measured by volume), accounted for 814.060 million shares worth N39.032 billion in 37,195 deals, contributing 21.40% and 18.24% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively
Activity levels also improved, with both traded volume and value recording modest week-on-week gains, while sectoral indices trended positively across Industrial Goods, Banking, Consumer Goods, Oil & Gas, and Insurance.
The NASD market extended its bullish momentum for the fifth consecutive time in today’s session, as the NASD Securities Index (NSI) advanced by 1.85% to close at 4,052.59 points.
Accordingly, market capitalisation rose by the same margin to settle at N2.42tn.
Market activity was mixed, with total volume declining by 0.91% and value traded advancing by 75.16%.
On the performance table, SDCSCSPLC (+9.07%) topped the gainers table while SDMRS (-11.11%) was the only decliner in the session.
In contrast, the naira depreciated by 1.0% week-on-week to NGN1,360.00/USD in the official market, reflecting sustained FX liquidity constraints.
This occurred despite foreign participation in the Central Bank’s OMO auction, highlighting persistent structural demand pressures.
External reserves declined for the sixth straight week, shedding USD141.17 million to settle at USD48.48 billion as of April 22, 2026.
Meanwhile, the forwards market mirrored the bearish sentiment, with the naira weakening across the 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year contracts, underscoring cautious investor expectations about near-term currency stability.
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