The Nigerian equities market ended the week of Friday, 7 August 2026, in positive territory, supported by strong buying interest in banking and other large-cap stocks.
The All-Share Index rose 0.12 per cent to close at 245,573.60 points, lifting market capitalisation to N158.513 trillion. The year-to-date return advanced to 57.81 per cent. Gains in key financial names helped offset profit-taking pressure across secondary sectors amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments and portfolio realignments by investors.
Trading Activity and Market Breadth
Investors exchanged a total of 5.359 billion shares valued at N139.053 billion across 261,869 deals during the week. Volume increased from the previous week’s 5.119 billion shares, while value declined from N404.762 billion, reflecting a high base effect from large institutional block trades in the prior period.
Daily activity fluctuated. Monday saw more than 922 million shares worth N37.85 billion traded in 72,474 deals, while Friday closed with 1.518 billion shares valued at N26.65 billion in 42,517 deals. Overall market breadth remained negative, with 63 equities declining against 26 gainers and 58 stocks unchanged.
Financial Services Dominate Volume
The Financial Services sector led trading by volume, accounting for 3.469 billion shares worth N73.013 billion in 117,509 deals. This represented 64.73 per cent of total equity volume and 52.51 per cent of total value. Oil and Gas ranked second with 1.023 billion shares valued at N18.900 billion, while ICT placed third with 232.368 million shares worth N14.624 billion.
Combined trading in the three most active stocks Japaul Gold & Ventures, Fortis Global Insurance and FCMB Group totalled 2.562 billion shares valued at N14.173 billion across 6,645 deals.
Sector and Stock Performance
Buying interest lifted the Banking Index by 2.33 per cent, the Corporate Governance Index by 1.97 per cent and the Premium Index by 1.60 per cent. Profit-taking produced declines in Insurance (-3.31 per cent), Growth (-2.14 per cent) and Consumer Goods (-1.75 per cent).
AVA Capital Plc topped the gainers’ list with a 33.33 per cent rise to N11.00. FCMB Group advanced 13.10 per cent to N12.95, while First HoldCo climbed 12.23 per cent to N145.40.
On the downside, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria led decliners with a 26.71 per cent drop to N3.21. Trans-Nationwide Express fell 23.76 per cent to N2.15, and Critical Minerals Financing Corp declined 22.68 per cent to N3.00.
Alternative Assets and Corporate Actions
Exchange Traded Products recorded 3.561 million units valued at N513.089 million in 5,558 deals, lower than the previous week. VETBANK recorded the highest volume with 2.142 million units, while STANBICETF30 led in value with N167.401 million.
In the fixed-income segment, 117,372 bond units worth N121.249 million were traded across 29 deals. The FGSUK2032S7 bond accounted for the largest share with 51,500 units valued at N62.380 million.
Corporate actions during the week included price adjustments for Unilever Nigeria, which was set at N145.95 following a N2.00 dividend ex-div date, and VFD Group, adjusted to N11.36 after a N0.24 dividend.
