It was a bright start to the new month for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday as it closed higher by 0.19 per cent.
The Nigerian stock market had a rest on Wednesday to celebrate the country’s 65th Independence Day anniversary and only had its first trading session of October 2025.
Buying interest from investors contributed to the growth recorded by Customs Street during the session, with 34 stocks ending on the gainers’ chart and 26 stocks finishing on the losers’ table. This showed a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
PZ Cussons chalked up 10.00 per cent to quote at N37.95, Eterna expanded by 9.94 per cent to N37.05, Champion Breweries soared by 9.82 per cent to N15.10, Tantalizers grew by 5.96 per cent to N2.49, and AIICO Insurance advanced by 5.43 per cent to N3.69.
On the flip side, RT Briscoe declined by 9.89 per cent to N3.37, Thomas Wyatt shrank by 9.82 per cent to N3.58, Sovereign Trust Insurance weakened by 9.33 per cent to N2.72, International Energy Insurance crashed by 7.78 per cent to N3.08, and Berger Paints lost 7.18 per cent to trade at N36.20.
The industrial goods space came under selling pressure yesterday, giving up a marginal 0.02 per cent at the close of transactions. The profit-taking in this landscape did not affect the general performance of the bourse, as its loss was offset by other sectors.
The insurance counter expanded by 0.42 per cent, the consumer goods index grew by 0.35 per cent, the banking industry gained 0.17 per cent, the energy sector improved by 0.12 per cent, and the commodity counter rose by 0.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 268.98 points to 142,979.46 points from 142,710.48 points and the market capitalisation rose by N171 billion to N90.752 trillion from N90.581 trillion.
Business Post reports that market participants traded 6.2 billion equities valued at N54.5 billion in 32,682 deals on Thursday versus the 1.2 billion equities worth N29.8 billion transacted in 28,009 deals on Tuesday, implying a surge in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 416.67 per cent, 82.89 per cent, and 16.68 per cent, respectively.
Cornerstone Insurance led the activity chart yesterday after it transacted 5.5 billion shares for N25.1 billion, UBA exchanged 152.1 million equities worth N6.5 billion, Wema Bank sold 152.1 million stocks valued at N2.5 billion, First Holdco traded 111.8 million shares worth N3.5 billion, and Zenith Bank transacted 47.1 million equities valued at N3.3 billion.