Yesterday was a strong start to February 2026 trading on the Nigerian stock market, with the key bench rising by 0.01 percent.
At 165,384.64 basis points, the Nigerian Exchange Limited All Share Index (NGX ASI) closed up 14.24 basis points, or 0.01 percent. Additionally, market capitalization increased by N9 billion to settle at N106.162 trillion.
The NGX Insurance saw a two percent fall, the NGX Banking Index saw a 0.6 percent decline, the NGX Consumer Goods saw a 0.4 percent decline, the NGX Industrial Goods saw a 0.1 percent decline, and the NGX Oil & Gas had a two percent increase in sectoral performance.
In the meantime, 29 rising equities were overshadowed by 44 falling stocks, indicating a bearish market breadth. Daar Communications followed with a gain of 9.93% to close at N1.55 a share, while Premier Paints and Universal Insurance posted the most price gains of 10% each to conclude at N11.00 and N1.32, respectively.
The R.T. Morison Industries increased 9.91% to close at N10.98 per share, while Briscoe (Nigeria) increased 9.92% to close at N8.64.
In contrast, Omatek Ventures closed at N2.70 per share, leading the losers’ table by 10%. DEAP Capital Management & Trust dropped by 9.90 percent to close at N8.46 per share, while AXA Mansard dropped by 9.94 percent to close at N14.31.
While Royal Exchange saw a 9.63% loss in value to conclude at N1.97 per share, C & I Leasing saw a 9.80% depreciation to close at N6.90.
Additionally, 55,374 transactions totaling 762.751 million units, valued at N18.409 billion, saw a 10.96% increase in the total volume transacted. At N329.387 million, transactions in Tantalizer’s shares, totaling 88.489 million shares, topped the activity chart. Veritas Kapital Assurance traded 39.211 million shares worth N92.110 million, while Zenith Bank followed with 40.188 million shares worth N2.873 billion.
First HoldCo sold 27.635 million shares valued at N1.134 billion, while Universal Insurance traded 29.298 million shares for N38.074 million.
On market outlook, a group of analysts at United Capital Plc said, “Nigerian equities are likely to trade sideways with sector rotation, as liquidity remains supportive, but investors stay selective, favouring oil & gas and insurance stocks amid profit taking in banking sector stocks.”
