The Nigerian equities market extended its positive momentum on Friday, with the NGX All-Share Index (NGX-ASI) rising by 0.25% to close at 246,992.44 points, lifting its year-to-date gain to 58.72%. Market capitalisation also increased by 0.25% to NGN159.56 trillion, reflecting an estimated NGN405.67 billion addition to investors’ wealth during the session. However, the up/down volume ratio of 2.86x indicated that trading activity was heavily tilted towards advancing securities. The strong Friday performance capped a positive first trading week of September, with the NGX-ASI gaining 2.36% over the week. The continued upward movement reinforces the market’s bullish momentum, although the mixed breadth suggests that gains remained concentrated in selected securities.

Sectoral performance was broadly positive, led by the Consumer Goods Index, which gained 1.28%, driven by strong gains in NB. The Oil & Gas Index advanced 1.12%, supported by gains in ARADEL, while the Banking Index rose 0.44% following price appreciation in ZENITHBANK and STANBIC. Conversely, the Industrial Goods Index declined 0.64%, weighed down by losses in HBMNG and BETAGLAS, while the Insurance Index extended its decline following losses in CONHALLPLC, AIICO and other constituents. Trading activity strengthened significantly, with 2.24 billion shares changing hands, representing a 416.71% increase from the previous session. Transaction value also surged by 150.83% to NGN73.38 billion, while the number of deals increased marginally by 0.99% to 42,636. FTGINSURE accounted for 64.85% of total volume traded, making it the dominant contributor to the session’s exceptionally high trading volume.