By Onu Okorie

Nigerian equities market sustained its bullish momentum on Thursday, with the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) rising by 0.23 per cent as investors continued to accumulate selected banking, consumer and other large-cap stocks.
The NGX All-Share Index gained 576.36 points to close at 251,191.02 points, compared with 250,614.66 points recorded in the previous session.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of listed equities increased by about ₦374 billion to ₦163.06 trillion, maintaining the market above the ₦163 trillion threshold. The latest advance also lifted the market’s year-to-date return to 61.42 per cent.
Trading activity was mixed, however, as market volume expanded sharply while turnover moderated. A total of 1.59 billion shares valued at ₦45.82 billion exchanged hands in 49,736 deals during the session.
Volume increased by about 90 per cent compared with the preceding session, while traded value declined by 5.66 per cent. Fidelity Bank led the market by volume with 170.72 million shares, while GTCO emerged as the most actively traded stock by value, accounting for ₦11.85 billion worth of transactions.
Market breadth remained positive, reflecting continued buying interest across several counters. Forty-three equities appreciated, compared with 20 decliners.
Eterna led the gainers, rising by 10 per cent to close at ₦38.50. Thomas Wyatt Nigeria gained 9.88 per cent to ₦2.78, while Critical Minerals Financing Corporation advanced 9.76 per cent to ₦2.70. Haldane McCall and Omatek Ventures also recorded strong gains of 9.70 per cent and 9.63 per cent respectively.
On the losers’ table, Caverton Offshore Support Group fell 9.09 per cent to ₦4.00, while University Press declined by nine per cent to ₦4.55. Coronation Insurance shed 6.30 per cent to ₦2.23, Veritas Kapital Assurance lost 5.45 per cent to ₦1.04, while United Capital declined by five per cent to ₦17.10.
The banking sector remained one of the major drivers of the market’s performance. The NGX Banking Index rose from 2,725.39 points to 2,748.63 points, while the Insurance Index also advanced from 1,081.54 to 1,093.23 points.
The Consumer Goods Index increased to 4,092.56 points, while the Oil and Gas Index edged higher. The Industrial Index, however, declined during the session.
The latest rally comes amid increased attention on Nigeria’s capital market following Nigeria’s reclassification by FTSE Russell from “Unclassified” to Frontier Market status, effective September 21.
The market is also witnessing heightened activity around new capital raising, including the ongoing Dangote Refinery initial public offering, adding to expectations of deeper market participation.
With the ASI now above 251,000 points and equity capitalisation above ₦163 trillion, investors are closely watching whether sustained earnings prospects, banking-sector activity, improved market access and new listings can support the market’s elevated valuation levels.
Market outlook: Thursday’s session showed continued demand for selected equities, although the moderation in traded value suggests that the advance was not accompanied by a corresponding increase in monetary turnover. Investors’ attention is likely to remain focused on corporate earnings, monetary conditions, foreign participation and developments in the primary market.