Equities Market Bullish Momentum To Carry Into Final Trading Days Of 2025

The Nigerian equities market is expected to maintain its bullish momentum into the final trading days of 2025, driven by sustained investor optimism and portfolio repositioning ahead of the new year.

The local bourse closed the pre-Christmas trading week on a confident footing, riding a wave of festive optimism and sustained risk-on sentiment. Investor appetite remained tilted toward mid- and large-cap names, with consumer goods and banking stocks firmly in focus as portfolio managers continued to reshuffle positions ahead of year-end book closure.

For this week, Cowry Assets Management Limited said, “We expect bullish sentiment to carry into the final trading days of 2025. With year-end rebalancing still underway, investors are likely to remain selective, rotating into fundamentally sound stocks as positioning shifts toward the new trading year. Meanwhile, we will continue to advise investors to take positions in fundamentally sound stocks.”

Imperial Asset Managers Limited noted that “near-term sentiment remains cautiously optimistic, supported by strong YTD performance and sustained interest in fundamentally sound, liquid stocks. However, trading activity may remain selective and range-bound as investors’ position ahead of year-end portfolio rebalancing.”

Despite the shortened trading days of last week, momentum stayed intact. The NGX All-Share Index posted gains in three sessions to close the week at 153,539.83, up 0.97 per cent week-on-week.

Market capitalisation rose by N953.4 billion to close the week at N97.890 trillion as the Exchange’s year-to-date return improved further to a robust 49.17 per cent, cementing 2025 as a strong year for equities.

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, closed positive as 44 stocks gained, 30 lost, while 73 remained unchanged. Aluminium Extrusion Industries led the gainers table by 32.39 per cent to close at N16.35 per share. Austin Laz & Company followed with a gain of 32.23 per cent to close at N3.20, while International Breweries went up by 20.83 per cent to close at N14.50 per share.

On the other side, Legend Internet led the decliners table by 11.71 per cent to close at N4.90 per share. Champion Breweries followed with a loss of 11.50 per cent to close at N15.00, while NEM Insurance declined by 8.37 per cent to close at N24.10 per share.

Meanwhile, a total of 2.876 billion shares worth N63.832 billion in 80,229 deals were traded by investors on the Exchange’s floor this week, in contrast to the 9.849 billion shares valued at N305.843 billion that exchanged hands last week in 126,584 deals.

The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 1.984 billion shares valued at N32.680 billion traded in 31,632 deals, contributing 68.99% and 51.20% to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

The Investment Industry followed with 208.695 million shares worth N2.264 billion in 640 deals, while the Conglomerates Industry traded a turnover of 147.002 million shares worth N6.085 billion in 1,676 deals.

Trading in the top equities, Abbey Mortgage Bank, VFD Group, and Custodian Investment, accounted for 1.471 billion shares worth N14.684 billion in 1,093 deals, contributing 51.15% and 23.00% to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.