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By Chukwuma Umeorah
The Nigerian stock market kicked off 2025 on a high note, as the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 1.42 per cent week-on-week (w/w) to close at 103,586.33 points. This robust start reflects heightened investor confidence, driven by position-taking in fundamentally sound stocks and active trading as the year began.
The upbeat performance builds on the market’s stellar 38 per cent annual gain recorded in 2024.
The weekly rise in the ASI was largely fueled by significant buying activity in key sectors, particularly insurance and consumer goods. Cowry Research Analysts notes that investors strategically positioned themselves ahead of anticipated corporate earnings reports and interim dividend announcements for 2024.
Similarly, market capitalisation surged by 2.02 per cent w/w to N63.17 trillion, adding N1.25 trillion to its value. This reflects the resilience of Nigerian equities despite prevailing economic challenges. Trading activities were equally vibrant, with weekly traded volume and value jumping by 88.8 per cent and 34.1 per cent, respectively, to 2.62 billion shares worth N69.74 billion. These transactions, executed in 47,953 trades, marked a 43.5 per cent increase from the prior week.
Sectoral performance was broadly positive, with four of the five major indices under review closing higher. The NGX-Insurance Index emerged as the top performer, surging by 26.91 per cent buoyed by strong price appreciation in stocks such as PRESTIGE, SOVRENINS, and CORONATION. The NGX-Consumer Goods, NGX-Banking, and NGX-Industrial Goods indices also gained 2.16 per cent, 0.58 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively, supported by positive sentiment in stocks like MULTIVERSE, HONYFLOUR, STERLING, and WEMABANK.
Conversely, the NGX-Oil and Gas Index recorded a marginal decline of 0.45 per cent due to selloffs in TOTAL, ETERNA, and OANDO.
Top-performing stocks for the week included PRESTIGE which advanced by 46 per cent, NEIMETH by 45.3 per cent while SOVRENINS and CORONATION rose by 45.2 per cent and 44.9 per cent respectively.
On the downside, PZ CUSSONS depreciated by 13.8 per cent, CWG dropped 10.8 per cent and UNIONDICON and NGXGROUP lost 10 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively.
Cowry in their weekly review now stated “The strong start to 2025 reinforces the appeal of the Nigerian Exchange for portfolio diversification. Key sectors such as insurance, banking, consumer goods, and industrial goods saw heightened investor interest, signaling potential for further growth.” Looking ahead, they predict market sentiment remains bullish, although some profit-taking could temper gains in the short term.
