The local equities market sustained its positive momentum today, edging higher by 0.16% to close at 142,263.07 points and extending gains into a second consecutive session.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) on the trading session indicated that beneath the modest gain of the broad market index, sectoral performance was mixed.
According to the data, three of the five indices under coverage closed in positive zone, while two closed in the red as the Consumer Goods index set the pace, advancing 0.75% on the back of gains in GUINNESS (+10.00%), MCNICHOLS (+9.58%), DANGSUGAR (+3.33%), and CHAMPION (+1.35%).
Similarly, the momentum in the Oil & Gas sector also supported the broader market, with the index rising by 0.28% attributable to gains in ARADEL (+0.86%), while the Industrial Goods index managed a marginal uptick.
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Conversely, selling pressure persisted in the Insurance sector, resulting in its fourth consecutive session of losses as CONHALLPLC (-7.59%), SOVRENINS (-6.21%), and WAPIC (-4.19%) dragged the index lower.
This is even as the Banking sector also struggled as losses in ZENITHBANK (-1.42%), FIRSTHOLDCO (-1.08%), ACCESSCORP, and UBA weighed on the index, marking its third successive decline, despite corporate announcements by ZENITHBANK and UBA.
A further analysis of the NGX data reflected that trading activity further underscored the dominance of banking stocks as on the volume chart, ACCESSCORP, ZENITHBANK, and FIDELITYBANK jointly accounted for 25% of total volume traded.
Similarly, on the value side, ZENITHBANK led with 19% of trades, reflecting investor reaction to its H1’2025 results, which showed a topline growth of +19.70% but a -7.93% decline in profit after tax. ARADEL, which closed up 0.86%, followed as the next most actively traded stock by value.
