Nigeria’s equities market increased by N3.44trillion or 4.31 percent as investor bought majorly consumer goods and banking stocks in the trading week ended Friday July 18.
NGX Industrial Index was up 19.17 percent in the review week, followed by NGX Banking Index (+5.36 percent), and NGX Consumer Goods Index (+1.34percent).
The market rallied in the review week, defying profit taking activities in insurance and oil & gas stocks. NGX Oil & Gas Index was down by 0.76 percent in the review week while NGX Insurance Index decreased most by 3.65 percent.
Ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Monday and Tuesday, most analysts prediction of possible rate cut is fuelling liquidity into equities. Their expectations are hinged on the sustained decline in inflation and improved stability in the foreign exchange (FX) market.
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According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased for the third consecutive month, dropping to 22.22 percent in June 2025 from 22.97 percent in May.
The stock market rallied as investors continued to reroute funds from the fixed income (FI) market. Particularly, moderating rate of the treasury bills (T-bills) is making investors rethink in favour of equities. The stock market year-to-date (YtD) return increased to 27.84 percent as at Friday July 18. This month, the stock market has risen by 9.67 percent.
This is also in addition to many investors positioning ahead of half year (H1) earnings season in expectation of interim dividend payment by the regular companies.
Week-on-week (WoW), the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation increased remarkably to 131,585.21 points and N83.241 trillion respectively as against 126,149.59 points and N79.803 trillion recorded the preceding weekend.
