The Nigerian equities market staged a strong recovery in July 2026, with the NGX All-Share Index rising 6.92% month-on-month to close at 245,283.68 points. Fortis Global Insurance and FirstHoldCo led the advance, each delivering share-price gains of more than 100%.
The benchmark index ended the month at 245,283.68 points, up from 229,419.18 points at the close of June. The rebound followed a sharp June sell-off that saw the index drop 8.37% from its May peak of 250,385.70 points. Despite the July recovery, the index remained approximately 2.04% below that May high. Market capitalisation increased by about N11.11 trillion during the month, rising from N147.22 trillion at the end of June to N158.326 trillion on July 31. Part of the rise reflected new and supplementary listings, including AVA Capital and additional shares issued by Fortis Global Insurance. The year-to-date return on the index improved to 57.62%, while the gain in market capitalisation since the start of the year stood at roughly 59.32%.
Top Gainers and Losers
Fortis Global Insurance was the month’s best performer, climbing 136.36% to close at N2.34. FirstHoldCo followed closely with a 131.13% rise to N129.55. Other strong gainers included Thomas Wyatt Nigeria (up 59.27% to N4.38), DAAR Communications (up 44.00% to N1.80), UPDC REIT (up 42.05% to N13.85), Consolidated Hallmark Holdings (up 39.33% to N8.36), Coronation Infrastructure Fund (up 33.02% to N154.30), Honeywell Flour Mills (up 27.62% to N18.25), RT Briscoe (up 26.63% to N12.60) and Wapic Insurance (up 23.19% to N2.55).
The weakest performers were led by Mecure Industries (down 40.78%), M. C. Nichols (down 32.35%), International Energy Insurance (down 28.32%), CAP Plc (down 26.76%), ABC Transport (down 26.28%), Haldane McCall (down 25.77%), Meyer (down 18.93%), Red Star Express (down 18.53%), Champion Breweries (down 17.04%) and Nascon Allied Industries (down 13.44%).
Sector Performance and Trading Activity
Banking led the rebound. The NGX Banking Index surged 22.10% in July to 2,527.59 points, reversing a 12.21% decline in June. It closed the month above its May level of 2,358.17 points and posted a year-to-date return of 66.74%. The NGX Insurance Index rose 9.28% to 1,200.08 points, supported by gains in Fortis Global Insurance, Consolidated Hallmark and Wapic Insurance. The NGX 30 Index advanced 7.82%, slightly outperforming the broader market. Industrial Goods gained 3.57% and Oil & Gas rose 3.21%. Oil & Gas remained the strongest major sector in 2026 with a year-to-date return of 96.32%. Consumer Goods was the only major sector to decline, falling 4.11% to 4,405.53 points.
Trading activity remained robust. Investors exchanged 17.82 billion shares valued at approximately N1.184 trillion across 1.166 million deals in 23 trading sessions. That equated to an average daily turnover of about 774.63 million shares worth N51.47 billion in 50,694 deals. Market breadth was positive, with cumulative daily advances of 728 against 619 declines and 1,721 unchanged stocks.
Corporate Actions That Shaped the Month
Several corporate actions influenced July’s figures. Fortis Global Insurance completed a four-for-one share reconstruction on July 2, reducing its issued shares from about 12.91 billion to 3.23 billion and adjusting the reference price to N3.96. Thomas Wyatt Nigeria resumed trading on July 6 after the NGX lifted its suspension. Sterling Financial Holdings listed 13.81 billion additional shares on July 16 from its offer for subscription at N7.00 per share, taking issued shares to 65.93 billion. Aluminium Extrusion was suspended on July 22 for failing to file audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025. Linkage Assurance listed 12.32 billion additional shares on July 23 from a rights issue at N1.32 per share, raising its issued shares to 30.80 billion. Fortis Global Insurance listed a further 15 billion shares on July 30 following the conversion of N12 billion debt to equity at N0.80 per share, increasing issued shares to 18.23 billion. AVA Capital listed five billion shares by introduction on July 31 at N7.50 per share, adding about N37.5 billion to market capitalisation.
July’s rebound recovered a substantial portion of June’s losses, yet the index remains below its May peak. The concentration of gains in a handful of large stocks and the continued weakness in Consumer Goods indicate that the recovery is not yet broad-based.
