|By Babatunji Wusu
The Nigerian stock market opened the 2026 trading year on a strong bullish note on Friday, delivering a N561 billion gain to investors as buying interest swept across key equities.
Sustained rallies in FTN Cocoa Processors, ABC Transport, Mutual Benefits Assurance, Deap Capital Management, Aluminium Extrusion Industries and 48 other stocks lifted overall market sentiment and pushed major indicators higher.
Market capitalization climbed by N561 billion, representing a 0.57 per cent increase, to close at N99.937 trillion from N99.376 trillion at the start of trading. In the same vein, the All-Share Index advanced by 879.33 points, or 0.57 per cent, to settle at 156,492.36, compared with 155,613.03 recorded in the previous session on Wednesday.
Trading resumed after a one-day pause, as the Federal Government declared Thursday a public holiday to mark the New Year, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Market breadth closed firmly positive, with 53 stocks recording price appreciation against 10 decliners, underscoring the dominance of bulls in the session.
FTN Cocoa Processors, ABC Transport, Mutual Benefits Assurance and Deap Capital Management led the gainers’ chart, each surging by the maximum 10 per cent to close at N5.50, N4.51, N3.41 and N2.09 per share, respectively. Aluminium Extrusion Industries followed closely, rising by 9.93 per cent to end the session at N23.80 per share.
On the flip side, Abbey Mortgage Bank topped the losers’ table after shedding 6.25 per cent to close at N6.00. First City Monument Bank declined by 4.56 per cent to N11.50, while Seplat Energy slipped by 3.43 per cent to settle at N5,610 per share. Guinea Insurance dropped by 2.26 per cent to N1.30, and Universal Insurance eased by 1.65 per cent to close at N1.19 per share.
Market activity showed mixed performance, as the number of transactions increased despite a decline in both trading volume and value. Investors exchanged 439.9 million shares worth N24.9 billion in 40,245 deals, compared with 1.23 billion shares valued at N35.13 billion traded in 27,884 deals during the previous session.
Chams emerged as the most traded stock by volume, with 120.3 million shares worth N455.09 million changing hands. Linkage Assurance followed with 21.2 million shares valued at N38.3 million, while Lasaco Assurance recorded trades of 19.5 million shares worth N48.6 million.
In terms of value, Aradel Holdings dominated trading after investors exchanged 15.6 million shares valued at N10.74 billion, while Access Corporation recorded transactions involving 14.3 million shares worth N317.3 million.
