Market Update: September 18, 2025
The Nigerian equities market extended its bullish momentum on Thursday, building on the mid-week rebound as investors maintained a cautious but positive tone in their positioning. Sentiment across the market stayed optimistic, driven by increased accumulation of fundamentally strong counters, particularly in the consumer goods and banking sectors. This is despite a slowdown in overall market activity, the market managed to close higher for the second consecutive session, as bargain hunters and institutional players took advantage of earlier price weaknesses to reposition their portfolios ahead of the release of third-quarter earnings results.
At the close of the trading session, the NGX All-Share Index edged higher by 0.16 percent to settle at 142,263.07 points, compared to 142,036.23 points in the previous session. This modest gain was enough to push the year-to-date return further to 38.22 percent, underscoring the resilience of the market even in a period marked by profit-taking and cautious trading. The overall tone of the session reflected steady buying interest, signalling that investors remain confident about the medium-term outlook of the market.
Index and Market Capitalisation:
The upward movement in the index translated into a ₦143.51 billion appreciation in market capitalisation, which closed the day at ₦90.01 trillion. This value gain was largely driven by price appreciation in key blue-chip and mid-tier stocks that continue to attract significant demand. Market breadth closed positive, reinforcing the bullish sentiment as more stocks advanced than declined. However, trading metrics showed that activity levels slowed, as the total volume traded dipped sharply by 67.64 percent to 325.11 million units, while the value of transactions closed at ₦8.42 billion, executed across 22,779 deals. This decline in volume and value points to measured accumulation, with market participants taking selective positions rather than engaging in aggressive trading.
Mixed Sector Indices:
Sectoral performance was a blend of gains and mild pullbacks, showing that investors are selectively rotating across sectors. The consumer goods sector led the market’s advance, supported by strong demand for beverage and sugar manufacturing stocks, which continue to deliver attractive returns for investors. The banking sector also recorded a positive close as buying interest persisted in tier-one lenders, reflecting renewed confidence in their fundamentals and earnings potential. Conversely, the insurance and industrial goods indices closed lower on account of profit-taking in a few highly capitalised counters, which slightly moderated the overall breadth but failed to reverse the day’s positive close. The oil and gas space posted marginal gains, helped by renewed interest in energy stocks as investors priced in expectations of higher demand from global crude oil markets following recent U.S. monetary policy decisions.
Market Outlook:
The short-term technical outlook for the market remains positive, as the NGXASI continues to trade above its key moving averages, suggesting that the uptrend is still intact. The 141,500-point mark continues to act as a strong support zone, cushioning against any sustained downside pressure, while the 143,000-point level serves as immediate resistance. A breakout above this resistance zone could trigger a fresh wave of buying that may push the index toward the 145,000-point region in the coming sessions, while failure to hold above support could see a mild round of profit-taking, particularly on stocks that have rallied significantly over the past week. Investors are therefore advised to approach the market with a cautiously optimistic outlook, focusing on fundamentally strong equities with solid earnings prospects, good dividend history, and attractive entry points.
The day’s rally was driven by notable price gains across key tickers, with Guinness Nigeria topping the list after surging 10.00 percent to close at ₦176.00, marking a new 52-week high. Eunisell followed closely with a 9.89 percent jump to ₦30.55, also achieving a fresh 52-week peak, while Dangote Sugar rose 3.33 percent. Nigerian Breweries advanced by 1.71 percent, NAHCO gained 1.43 percent, NASCON appreciated 0.99 percent, Aradel rose 0.86 percent, GTCO climbed 0.74 percent, while Fidelity Bank and NEM also posted modest gains. AccessCorp dominated trading activity, accounting for 39.92 percent of total market volume with 37.24 million units traded, while Zenith Bank led in value with ₦1.60 billion worth of shares exchanged. Market breadth closed strong with 30 gainers against 20 losers, while Conhall Plc led the decliners as profit-taking set in on a few counters that had posted recent gains.
