The Nigerian equity market extended its bullish run on Wednesday, as renewed investor appetite for leading stocks propelled the market capitalisation up by N881 billion.
The positive momentum was underpinned by significant buying in large- and mid-cap equities, including Meyer, Nestlé Nigeria, Fortis Global Insurance, Consolidated Hallmark Holdings, and Zichis Agro Allied Industries, which collectively lifted broad market sentiment. Analysts linked the sustained interest to the recent implementation of revised investment regulations by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), which increased the allowable allocation to ordinary shares under Retirement Savings Account (RSA) funds.
The regulatory adjustment raises the equity investment thresholds for several RSA fund categories. For Fund I, the limit increased from 30% to 35%; Fund II from 25% to 33%; Fund III from 10% to 15%; and Fund VI Active from 25% to 33%. This change is anticipated to channel more pension fund assets into the stock market, providing a structural boost to trading volumes and valuations.
Consequently, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index rose by 0.78% to close at 178,184.54 points, up from 176,809.43 the previous day. The market’s capitalisation stood at N114.377 trillion, from an opening value of N113.496 trillion. This performance pushed the year-to-date return to 14.50%.
Market breadth was positive, with 49 stocks advancing against 32 decliners. Nestlé Nigeria, Meyer, Consolidated Hallmark Holdings, and Fortis Global Insurance each hit the 10% upper price limit, closing at N2,420, N20.90, N4.95, and N0.33 per share, respectively. Zichis Agro Allied Industries rose 9.98% to N8.93.
On the losing side, Honeywell Flour led with a 9.70% drop to N22.80, followed by Neimeth International Pharmaceutical (-9.15% to N12.90) and The Initiates (-5.81% to N19.45). RT Briscoe and Sterling Nigeria also declined, losing 5.70% and 5.56% respectively.
Trading activity showed mixed signals compared to the previous session. A total of 939.2 million shares worth N34.03 billion exchanged hands in 61,279 deals. This represented an 11% decrease in volume and a 30% fall in transaction value from the prior day’s 1.3 billion shares and N50.4 billion, though the number of deals grew by 4%. Tantalizer was the most traded stock by volume (85.32 million shares), while Aradel Holdings recorded the highest traded value at N2.98 billion.
The combination of strong demand for blue-chip stocks and supportive regulatory policy suggests the Nigerian market is attracting sustained domestic institutional interest, a trend that could influence medium-term market trajectory.
