TUE OCT 27 2026-theGBJournal| The Nigerian equities market started the week on a positive note, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) gaining 1.65% to close at 251,290.54 points.
Market capitalisation also increased by 1.65% to ₦163.16 trillion, lifting the ASI’s year-to-date (YTD) return to 61.48% from 58.87% in the previous session. The performance reflects continued market gains, supported by strong buying interest in selected large-cap stocks.
The rally was driven by gains in DANGCEM (+10.00%), FIRSTHOLDCO (+7.56%) and ARADEL (+2.48%), which offset losses in FIDELITYBK (-4.17%), NB (-1.33%) and PZ (-7.61%).
Sectoral performance was broadly positive, with the Industrial Goods index leading the gainers, rising by 5.37%. Banking followed with a 2.34% gain, while Oil and Gas and Insurance advanced by 0.88% and 0.67%, respectively. Consumer Goods was the only declining sector, shedding 0.06%.
Market activity was mixed, as total volume traded declined by 46.13% to 329.53 million units. However, value traded increased by 9.98% to ₦25.45 billion, while the number of deals rose by 30.12% to 43,700.
The increase in trading value and deal count, despite lower volume, suggests stronger transaction values and sustained investor participation.
ACCESSCORP (+4.15%) led trading by volume, with 18.01 million units exchanged, while DANGCEM (+10.00%) dominated trading by value, recording transactions worth ₦6.39 billion.
Despite the benchmark’s positive performance, market breadth remained negative at 0.81x, with 30 advancers against 37 decliners.
DANGCEM (+10.00%) led the gainers, while ABCTRANS (-9.59%) recorded the steepest decline. This divergence suggests that the market rally was concentrated in selected stocks rather than broadly distributed across the market.
NASD OTC Market
The NASD OTC market opened the week on a negative note, as the NASD Securities Index (NSI) declined by 1.26% to close at 4,290.25 points.
Market capitalisation also fell by 1.26% to ₦2.58 trillion, while the YTD return moderated to 21.07% from 22.61% in the previous session.
Market activity improved in value terms, with total value traded surging by 2,226.07% to 25.07 million from 1.08 million in the previous session. The number of trades also increased by 200% to 27 from 9.
However, total traded volume declined by 15.63% to 289,328 units from 342,930 units, indicating higher transaction value despite lower trading volume.
SDFCWAMCO (-9.28%) led the decliners, followed by SDAFRILAND (-1.16%) and SDCSCSPLC (-1.12%). No stocks recorded gains during the session, reflecting broad-based weakness across the market.
Foreign Exchange and External Reserves
The naira weakened against the U.S. dollar, with the USD/NGN exchange rate rising by 0.42% to ₦1,367.10/$.
The depreciation highlights continued foreign exchange market pressures, which remain an important consideration for investors assessing currency exposure and the outlook for import-dependent businesses.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s external reserves increased marginally by 0.03% to $55.18 billion as of 23 October 2026, recovering from a slight decline in the previous week.
The modest improvement provides a positive signal for external liquidity, although sustained reserve growth will be important in supporting exchange rate stability and overall investor confidence.
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