Renewed buying interest driven by pre-Christmas positioning lifted equities on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) last week, with market capitalisation rising by N1.7 trillion.

Investor sentiment strengthened as the Santa-Claus seasonal rally took hold across major blue-chip and mid-tier stocks. By the close of trading, the All-Share Index rose 1.76 per cent to 152,057.38 points, while market capitalisation climbed to N96.94 trillion, translating to N1.67 trillion in gains within five sessions. Year-to-date return rose to 47.73 per cent, supported by a positive market breadth of 55 gainers against 35 losers.

Trading activity rebounded sharply, with volume surging 125.2 per cent to 9.85 billion units, while turnover jumped 212.6 per cent to N305.89 billion, reflecting stronger risk appetite and improved liquidity. A total of 126,637 deals were executed during the week.

Five of the six tracked sectors closed higher. The consumer goods index led with a 2.75 per cent gain, driven by Guinness and Champion Breweries, while the banking index advanced 2.73 per cent on buying interest in FirstHoldCo and Afriprudential.

The industrial goods sector gained 1.09 per cent, supported by BUA Cement and Berger. Insurance and commodity indices rose 0.96 per cent and 0.34 per cent, respectively. The oil and gas sector was the lone decliner, easing 0.17 per cent amid profit-taking.

On the gainers’ chart, Aluminium Extrusion Company (ALEX) topped with a 59.4 per cent surge, followed by Mecure, FirstHoldCo, Guinness, and NPF Microfinance Bank.

Conversely, Livestock Feeds, Japaul Gold, International Energy Insurance, FTN Cocoa, and Stanbic IBTC posted losses, largely due to profit-taking and portfolio rebalancing.

Technically, the market remains in a strong uptrend, though short-term overbought signals suggest the possibility of mild consolidation.
Looking ahead, analysts at Cowry Research expect sentiment to remain positive but selective, with investors favouring stocks with strong fundamentals and earnings visibility.