The Nigerian equities market delivered an early festive gift to investors, closing its Christmas Eve trading session firmly in the green. The market rally added a significant N228.37 billion to investor wealth, capping a positive, albeit shortened, trading week.
Market Performance Highlights
On Tuesday, December 24, 2025, the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 0.12%, closing at 153,539.83 points compared to the previous session's 153,354.13 points. This upward movement propelled the total market capitalisation to N97.89 trillion.
Furthermore, the market's year-to-date return strengthened impressively to 49.17%, reflecting a robust performance throughout 2025. For the entire week, which saw only three trading days due to the Christmas holidays, the ASI and market capitalisation grew by 0.97% and 0.98% respectively.
Trading Activity and Sectoral Analysis
As expected during a holiday period, overall trading activity slowed down. A total of 2.876 billion shares, valued at N63.83 billion, were exchanged in 80,229 deals. This was notably lower than the 9.849 billion shares worth N305.84 billion traded in the preceding full week.
The Financial Services Industry dominated the activity chart, leading with 1.984 billion shares valued at N32.68 billion traded in 31,632 deals. It was followed by the Investment Industry and the Conglomerates Industry.
Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc, VFD Group Plc, and Custodian Investment Plc emerged as the top three equities by volume. Together, they accounted for 1.471 billion shares worth N14.68 billion, representing 51.15% of the total trading volume for the week.
Market sentiment was broadly positive, with 44 equities recording price gains, while 30 declined and 73 remained unchanged. Most sectoral indices closed higher, although the NGX Premium, NGX Insurance, NGX MERI Growth, and NGX Lotus II indices ended the week in negative territory.
Top Gainers and Decliners
The week's trading produced clear winners and losers. The top five gainers for the week were:
- Aluminium Extrusion Industries: +N4.00
- Austinlaz: +78 kobo
- International Breweries: +N2.50
- Mecure Industries: +N10.20
- First Holding Company Plc: +N8.05
On the flip side, the major decliners included:
- Legend Internet: -65 kobo
- Champion Breweries: -N1.95
- Nem Insurance: -N2.20
- AXA Mansard Insurance: -N1.00
- Associated Bus Company: -23 kobo
In a related notable transaction, a disclosure on the Nigerian Exchange Limited revealed that Tony Elumelu, Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), and his wife, Awele Elumelu, recently increased their stake in the bank. The couple purchased a total of 23,196,236 UBA shares in two separate transactions valued at N480.26 million.
