The industrial goods index emerged as the best-performing sector on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), last week, returning a 10.46 per cent gain to investors.

The rally was driven largely by strong buying interest in Dangote Cement and Cutix, reflecting renewed confidence in companies with solid fundamentals and long-term growth prospects.

The oil and gas index followed with an 8.85 per cent gain, driven by renewed demand for Aradel Holdings and Japaul gold amid sustained optimism about the sector’s growth outlook.

The consumer goods index also advanced by 6.12 per cent, driven by increased buying interest in International Breweries, Honeywell Flour Mills and Cadbury Nigeria as investors responded positively to improving earnings expectations.

The banking index rose by 4.12 per cent, propelled by gains in Jaiz Bank, Wema Bank and Fidelity Bank, while the insurance index appreciated by 3.92 per cent.

Consequently, the Nigerian equities market maintained its strong upward momentum during the week, supported by increased demand for fundamentally sound stocks across key sectors of the market.

As a result, the NGX ASI appreciated by 6.35 per cent week-on-week to close at 243,798.76 points, while market capitalisation rose by about N9.34 trillion to N156.44 trillion. The latest performance lifted the market’s year-to-date return to 56.67 per cent.

Market breadth remained positive as 59 stocks recorded price gains against 25 decliners, indicating that buying interest was widespread across large, medium and small-cap companies.

Although the volume of shares traded and the number of deals declined by 4.52 per cent and 2.56 per cent, respectively, the value of transactions jumped by 42.87 per cent to N220.86 billion.

In all, investors exchanged 3.65 billion shares in 252,247 deals, suggesting that market participants shifted towards higher-value stocks with strong earnings potential.
Sectoral performance reflected broad-based buying interest as all the indices closed higher during the week.

Among individual stocks, International Energy Insurance recorded the highest gain for the week after appreciating by 40 per cent. It was followed by Scoa Nigeria, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank, First Holdco and Abbey Mortgage Bank, all of which posted impressive gains as investors continued to seek value across the market.

On the losers’ chart, Mecure Industries recorded the biggest decline, falling by 28.6 per cent. Geregu Power, CAP Plc, Guinness Nigeria and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated also closed lower as investors took profit after recent price appreciation.

Looking ahead, analysts expect the positive market sentiment to continue, supported by improving macroeconomic conditions, stronger institutional participation and growing foreign investor interest.

However, they cautioned that intermittent profit-taking may occur, particularly in stocks that have recorded significant gains in recent weeks, while advising investors to continue to focus on fundamentally strong companies with sustainable earnings and long-term growth potential.