Nigeria’s equity market opened 2026 on a strong footing, with re-rated stocks driving a ₦2.58 trillion surge in total market capitalisation during the third trading week of the year.
Several relatively small-cap stocks recorded extraordinary gains of up to 60%, with companies such as NCR, SCOA, Deap Capital, and Jaiz Bank Plc emerging as key contributors to the market’s momentum.
Although these stocks were not among the exchange’s largest by capitalisation, they played a central role in pushing the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) higher last week.
The bullish trend extended the market’s positive start to the year, as improving investor sentiment underpinned broad-based buying activity.
By the close of trading, the NGX All-Share Index settled at 166,129.50 points, representing a 2.36% week-on-week increase and signalling growing confidence among market participants.
Stockbrokers noted that the rally translated into a 2.48% expansion in market capitalisation, which rose to ₦106.35 trillion from ₦103.78 trillion in the prior week.
In absolute terms, the market added ₦2.58 trillion in value, pushing the year-to-date return to 6.76% ahead of the anticipated release of fourth-quarter 2025 corporate earnings.
Market breadth remained firmly positive, with advancing stocks significantly outnumbering decliners by a ratio of 4.71 to one. A total of 80 equities closed higher during the week, compared with 17 that declined.
Trading activity also strengthened notably. Total transaction volume, deal count, and traded value increased by 11.74%, 6.59%, and 40.44% week-on-week, respectively, highlighting heightened investor engagement.
By week’s end, investors had exchanged 4.62 billion shares valued at ₦130.94 billion across 166,129 transactions, reflecting active portfolio repositioning.
Sectoral performance broadly mirrored the positive sentiment. The Oil and Gas index led sectoral gainers with a 5.71% rise, followed by banking stocks, which advanced by 3.45%. The commodities sector gained 2.98%, while insurance stocks rose by 1.78%.
Consumer goods and industrial goods indices also closed in positive territory, posting gains of 1.59% and 0.67%, respectively.
At the individual stock level, NCR topped the gainers’ table with a 60.8% rally. SCOA followed closely with a 59.4% increase, while Deap Capital rose by 48.7%. Jaiz Bank Plc and Omatek also recorded strong gains of 45.7% and 38.3%, respectively, largely driven by aggressive accumulation.
On the flip side, Ikejaha Hotel led the laggards with a 12.4% decline. Austin Laz (-9.2%), Eterna (-7.7%), Universal Insurance (-7.7%), and Eunisell (-7.6%) also closed lower, reflecting sustained sell-side pressure.
Looking ahead, Cowry Asset Management Limited said the equities market is likely to maintain a positive bias in the near term, supported by improving sentiment, strong market breadth, and continued trading activity.
The firm noted that the broad-based gains across key sectors suggest healthy participation and ongoing accumulation, particularly in fundamentally sound and undervalued stocks.
While profit-taking could emerge following the recent rally, Cowry Asset added that overall sentiment remains constructive, reinforced by solid year-to-date performance and renewed investor confidence.
