Stock Market Gains N1,72trn on Demand for MTN, Dangote Cement 

Kayode Tokede

The stock market section of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), yesterday appreciated by   N1.72 trillion on investors’ demand for MTN Nigeria Communications Plc,  Dangote Cement Plc,  and others.

The N1.72 trillion increase in market capitalisation indicated the stock market starting March 2026 on a positive note as investors continued to take  positon amid 2025 financial year impressive corporate earnings.

As MTN Nigeria gained 3.03per cent to close at N783.00per share and Dangote Cement appreciated by  3.97per cent to close at N809.90 per share, the market capitalisation of listed companies on the NGX closed at N125.5 trillion, about N1.7trillion from N123.76 trillion it closed for trading in  February 2026.

The NGX All-Share Index advanced by  1.4 per cent to close at 195,514.23 basis points frmo 192,826.78basis points ti opened  for trading, resulting   in a Month-till-Date (MtD) and Year-till-Date (YTD) of 1.4per cent and 25.6per cent, respectively.

Sectoral performance was largely positive, with the NGX Oil & Gas (+4.7per cent), NGX Industrial Goods (+2.5per cent), NGX Consumer Goods (+0.4per cent), and NGX Banking (+0.3per cent) advancing. The NGX Insurance index  (-1.5per cent) was the sole loser of the day.

Meanwhile, the total trading volume pared by 4.1per cent to 789.85 million units, valued at N35.08 billion, and exchanged in 84,259 deals.

Japaul Gold was the most traded stock by volume at 54.72 million units, while Aradel Holdings Plc was the most traded stock by value at N6.09 billion, respectively.

Capital market analysts had said the market is expected to remain cautiously weak in the near term, with bearish sentiment and profit-taking activities continuing to weigh on performance.

Looking ahead to the new week, Cowry Assets Management Limited said, “we expect the market to remain cautiously weak in the near term as bearish sentiment and profit-taking activities continue to weigh on performance.

“With market breadth still negative and trading volumes subdued, investors are likely to adopt a selective approach, focusing on fundamentally sound and defensive stocks. Thus, we continue to advise investors to take position in fundamentally sound counters.”

Imperial Asset Managers Limited noted that “heading into the new week, we anticipate a cautiously optimistic trading pattern as fund managers and institutional investors finalize their end-of-month portfolio rebalancing. We advise our clients to take advantage of these dips by strategically positioning themselves in fundamentally sound, high-dividend-yielding stocks ahead of the upcoming earnings season.”