Nigerian Equities Extend Rally Amid Liquidity, Sector Rotation, Sustained Bullish Momentum

Market Update For November 14, 2025

The Nigerian equities market capped the week on a resilient bullish note, stretching its positive momentum into Friday’s session and reinforcing the steady improvement in investor sentiment. While the headline gain was modest, the depth of market activity painted a clearer picture of strong underlying demand. Traders continued to rotate into fundamentally sound counters, while institutional investors showed renewed appetite for large-scale accumulation ahead of month-end portfolio rebalancing.

Friday’s trading opened on a quiet note as investors assessed early flows, but the tone quickly shifted as buy-side orders deepened across several mid- and large-cap names. NCR maintained its upward trajectory, breaking above its 52-week high and attracting significant investor attention. BUACEMENT, NAHCO, CUSTODIAN, GUINNESS, VITAFOAM, ARADEL, MTNN, DANGSUGAR, JBERGER and NB also recorded notable inflows, reflecting a broad-based shift toward value and growth opportunities across sectors.

The market’s breadth leaned positive as selective accumulation overpowered mild selloffs in a few weak-performing stocks. PRESTIGE emerged as the day’s strongest performer, while UNIONDICON closed as the biggest laggard, underscoring the rotational dynamics between momentum-driven buying and tactical profit-taking. The session’s activity spotlight, however, remained firmly on CORNERST, which dominated both volume and value charts at levels rarely seen in recent weeks.

Transaction volume surged remarkably, signalling heightened confidence and deeper liquidity inflows. With total volume jumping more than 716%, to 4.90 billion units, and value traded hitting N42.25 billion, the market showcased one of its most active sessions this month. CORNERST accounted for an overwhelming majority of the day’s trades, suggesting sizeable institutional repositioning. ACCESSCORP, STANBIC and STERLINGNG followed at a distance but remained among the most actively traded counters.

The sharp rise in turnover also suggests strategic positioning by investors eyeing upcoming macroeconomic data, policy statements, and sector-specific triggers. With inflation pressures still high and FX realignments ongoing, equity investors are increasingly favouring stocks with strong cashflows, defensive characteristics, and positive earnings outlooks.

Technical View:

Technically, the market remains positioned for further upside. The All-Share Index continues to trade comfortably above its short-term moving averages, maintaining a healthy bullish structure even as intraday volatility cools. The index is now oscillating around the 147,000 psychological barrier, a zone that has capped upside moves in recent sessions. A decisive breakout above this range could open a path to 148,500–150,000.

Momentum indicators suggest rising but controlled optimism. RSI trends are firm but not overbought, while MACD signals remain supportive of continued strength. Key support lies at 146,300, an important floor that must hold to prevent a short-term pullback triggered by profit-taking. Overall, technicals lean bullish with an expanded room for further gains.

Market Outlook

The outlook for the Nigerian equities market remains broadly positive as liquidity conditions strengthen and investor confidence deepens. Sector rotation has broadened beyond financials into industrials, consumer goods, and telecoms, suggesting a more sustained rally rather than a narrow speculative push. With year-end portfolio adjustments approaching, institutional participation is expected to remain elevated.

Global oil dynamics, domestic policy cues, and Nigeria’s evolving macro landscape will continue to influence trading patterns. Crude oil’s mild weekly gains could lend additional support to local energy-related sentiment, although global demand softness remains a concern. Nonetheless, the market appears poised to retain its bullish undertone barring any abrupt fiscal or monetary disruptions.

Oil Market Update

Oil prices rallied on Friday after a Ukrainian drone strike temporarily halted exports at Russia’s Novorossiisk port, raising fresh supply concerns. Brent crude gained 1.65% to close at $64.05 per barrel, while WTI climbed 1.96% to $59.84. Despite the strong daily performance, both benchmarks were largely flat on the week, with Brent posting a slight 0.7% gain and WTI edging up by 0.15%, highlighting the ongoing tension between supply disruptions and weak global demand.

Market Performance Summary

The Nigerian stock market closed Friday’s session with a 0.02% rise as the All-Share Index settled at 147,013.59 points from 146,981.17 previously. Market capitalisation increased by N20.62 billion to N93.50 trillion, pushing the year-to-date return to 42.83%. The top gainers for the day included PRESTIGE, NCR (+9.64%), BUACEMENT (+3.70%), NAHCO (+3.14%), CUSTODIAN (+2.60%), GUINNESS (+2.41%) and VITAFOAM (+2.35%), while UNIONDICON led the decliners alongside a handful of weaker counters. Total market volume surged to 4.90 billion units—up 716.84%—valued at N42.25 billion across 24,152 deals. CORNERST dominated activity with 86.31% of total volume and 50.54% of total value, while ACCESSCORP and STANBIC ranked next among the most traded equities.