For the first time in several months, the industrial goods sector emerged as the highest price gainer on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), advancing by 9.67 per cent on last week, on the back of strong price appreciation in BUACement, John Holt, Premier Paints, Berger Paints and Lafarge Africa.
The banking index followed with a 4.31 per cent gain, driven by sustained buying interest in Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, FirstHoldCo, Wema Bank and AccessCorp, reflecting continued investor appetite for fundamentally strong and liquid counters.
However, the commodity index led the losers’ chart, declining by 4.91 per cent due to losses in Presco and Aradel Holdings, while the oil and gas sector dropped by 4.78 per cent amid weakness in Oando and Eterna.
The insurance and consumer goods indices posted marginal declines of 0.42 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively, weighed down by sell-offs in International Energy Insurance, International Breweries, Regal Insurance, Nigerian Breweries, Tantalizers and NASCON Allied Industries.
Consequently, the all-share index crossed the 200,000 psychological thresholds, rising by 1.39 per cent week-on-week to close at 201,156.85 points after hitting an intra-week high above 202,000 points. The rally was largely supported by sustained demand for banking and industrial stocks, underscoring investor preference for fundamentally sound equities.
Market capitalisation mirrored this positive sentiment, climbing to N129.13 trillion, representing a weekly gain of N1.77 trillion, while year-to-date returns stood at 29.27 per cent for the index and 29.94 per cent for market capitalisation.
Trading activity also strengthened significantly, with total volume traded jumping by 173.6 per cent week-on-week to 9.05 billion units, while transaction value rose by 62.39 per cent to N267.33 billion, indicating increased investor positioning driven by sector rotation.
Overall market breadth remained weak as four of the six tracked sectors closed in negative territory, highlighting a divergence between strong-performing stocks and underperformers.
John Holt led the gainers’ chart with a 25.4 per cent increase, followed by BUACement at 21 per cent, Premier Paints at 20.6 per cent, Zenith Bank at 14.6 per cent and Learn Africa at 13.3 per cent, all buoyed by sustained buying momentum.
On the losers’ chart, Presco recorded the steepest decline of 18.4 per cent, alongside DAAR Communications, which fell by 13.6 per cent, Eterna by 12.8 per cent, Red Star Express by 10 per cent and Omatek by 9.2 per cent, reflecting profit-taking and weak investor sentiment in those stocks.
Looking ahead, Chief Research Officer of Investdata Consulting Limited, Ambrose Omordion, said the technical outlook for the market remains strongly bullish, supported by robust price action, expanding trading volumes and sustained institutional participation.
He noted that the All-Share Index has broken key resistance levels and is holding above the 200,000 mark, which now serves as a critical support level.
He added that while intermittent pullbacks or sideways movements may occur in the near term due to overbought conditions, such corrections are expected to be mild and could present attractive entry opportunities for investors targeting fundamentally strong stocks.
According to him, key support levels are positioned around 200,000 and 198,500 points, while immediate resistance is seen within the 205,000 to 207,000 range, with a breakout above this band likely to trigger another rally phase.
