Nigeria’s stock market kicked off May on a strong note, with renewed investor confidence pushing market capitalisation higher by N63bn.
The Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index rose by 881.16 points, representing a 0.36% gain to close at 243,158.97 points, while total market capitalisation climbed to N156.057tn.
Gains were largely driven by price increases in key large- and mid-cap stocks, including Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Chemical and Allied Products, BUA Cement, UAC of Nigeria, and Dangote Sugar Refinery.
Market sentiment remained positive, with 44 gainers outperforming 34 losers by the end of the session.
Among the top performers, FTN Cocoa Processors and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings both recorded 10% gains, closing at N6.05 and N5.72 respectively. CAP followed closely with a 9.99% rise, while AIICO Insurance gained 9.98%. Dangote Sugar also advanced by 9.97%.
On the downside, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company led the losers, dropping 23%. International Energy Insurance and UPDC Plc also recorded notable declines.
Trading activity, however, slowed. Total volume traded fell by 24.79% to 1.408 billion shares, valued at N57.982bn across 133,071 deals.
Analysts at United Capital Plc expect the market’s positive momentum to continue, supported by foreign investor inflows, strong oil prices, and ongoing Q1 earnings releases.
Still, they caution that profit-taking could emerge in the near term, especially as global markets react to tighter monetary signals from the Federal Reserve.
