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Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Investors gain N687 billion as bullish momentum persists

Market analysts said, “Sustained demand in fundamentally strong stocks continues to drive the upward trend.”

• March 17, 2026
Trading floor
Trading floor

The Nigerian stock market sustained its bullish run on Tuesday, as investors gained N687 billion amid continued buying interest in key equities.

Market analysts said, “Sustained demand in fundamentally strong stocks continues to drive the upward trend.

The positive sentiment was driven by strong performances in high-capitalised stocks, including BUA Cement, Premier Paints, Zenith Bank, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, and RT Briscoe.

“As investor confidence strengthens, we are seeing consistent gains across major sectors,” a trader said.

Market capitalisation rose by 0.54 per cent, increasing from N129.329 trillion to N130.026 trillion at the close of trading.

Similarly, the All-Share Index advanced by 1,084.68 points, or 0.54 per cent, from 201,474.89 to 202,559.57.

The market breadth closed positive, recording 39 gainers and 34 losers.

BUA Cement led the gainers with a 10 per cent rise to N326.70, while Premier Paints gained 9.89 per cent to close at N23.40.

Zenith Bank rose by 7.91 per cent to N111.15 per share, while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company increased by 7.14 per cent to N175.60.

RT Briscoe also gained 6.67 per cent, closing at N11.20 per share.

On the losers’ chart, Presco declined by 10 per cent to close at N1,875.60.

Caverton Offshore Support Group fell by 8.70 per cent to N6.30, while Secure Electronic Technology dropped by 7.69 per cent to N1.20 per share.

Guinea Insurance shed 6.43 per cent to close at N1.31, and International Breweries declined by 6.35 per cent to N14 per share.

Meanwhile, market activity increased, with total traded volume rising by 84.75 per cent to 1.75 billion shares valued at N88.10 billion.

The transactions were executed across 62,654 deals during the trading session.

FCMB recorded the highest volume, with 516.23 million shares traded, accounting for 29.47 per cent of the day’s total volume.

Zenith Bank posted the highest value, with trades worth N18.10 billion, representing 20.55 per cent of the day’s total value.

(NAN)

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