The Nigerian equities market made a decisive recovery in July 2026, reversing a sharp mid-year sell-off. The benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 6.92% month-on-month to close at 245,283.68 points, up from 229,419.18 points at the end of June.
While the rally recovered most of the 8.37% loss experienced during June's market correction, the index closed approximately 2.04% (or 5,102 points) below its record peak of 250,385.70 points set in May 2026. Year-to-date, the ASI stands at an impressive +57.62% return.
Market Capitalization & Mega-Cap Dominance
Total market capitalization expanded by N11.11 trillion (+7.54%) in July, closing at N158.326 trillion. A portion of this growth was bolstered by fresh primary market listings and capital expansions. Overall market capitalisation has surged by 59.32% Year-to-Date.
Market gains were heavily concentrated in four mega-cap stocks—Airtel Africa, FirstHoldCo, MTN Nigeria, and Dangote Cement—each of which added over N1 trillion in valuation during the month.
Key Takeaway: Together, these four heavyweights generated N10.78 trillion in capital growth, representing approximately 97% of the total N11.11 trillion market value increase in July.
July 2026 Market Summary Table
| Metric | June 2026 | July 2026 | MoM Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-Share Index (ASI) | 229,419.18 pts | 245,283.68 pts | +6.92% |
| Market Capitalization | N147.220 Trillion | N158.326 Trillion | +7.54% (+N11.11T) |
| YTD ASI Return | +47.42% | +57.62% | +10.20% pts |
| Distance from May Peak | -8.37% | -2.04% | +6.33% pts |
Sector Performance: Banking Leads, Consumer Goods Lags
Sector performance was distinctly split across industry groups:
- NGX Banking Index (+22.10%): Led the market rally to close at 2,527.59 points, fully recovering from a 12.21% drop in June and bringing its YTD gain to 66.74%.
- NGX Insurance Index (+9.28%): Closed at 1,200.08 points, driven by rallies in Fortis Global Insurance, Consolidated Hallmark, and Wapic Insurance.
- NGX 30 Index (+7.82%): Outperformed the benchmark ASI slightly.
- NGX Industrial Goods (+3.57%) & Oil & Gas (+3.21%): Posted modest monthly gains. Notably, Oil & Gas remains the top-performing sector YTD with a 96.32% surge.
- NGX Consumer Goods (-4.11%): The only major sector in negative territory, falling to 4,405.53 points due to continued inflationary pressure on consumer spending.
Top 10 Performers and Decliners
Note on Fortis Global Insurance: While reporting an unadjusted 136.36% gain, Fortis completed a 4-for-1 share reconstruction at N3.96 in July. Adjusted for the reconstruction, Fortis actually declined ~40.91% to N2.34, making FirstHoldCo (+131.13%) the top true performer of the month.
Top 10 Gainers
- First HoldCo: +131.13% (closed at N129.55)
- Thomas Wyatt Nigeria: +59.27% (closed at N4.38)
- DAAR Communications: +44.00% (closed at N1.80)
- UPDC REIT: +42.05% (closed at N13.85)
- Consolidated Hallmark Holdings: +39.33% (closed at N8.36)
- Coronation Infrastructure Fund: +33.02% (closed at N154.30)
- Honeywell Flour Mills: +27.62% (closed at N18.25)
- RT Briscoe: +26.63% (closed at N12.60)
- Wapic Insurance: +23.19% (closed at N2.55)
- Fortis Global Insurance: +136.36% (Unadjusted headline price)
Top 10 Losers
- Mecure Industries: -40.78%
- M. C. Nichols: -32.35%
- International Energy Insurance: -28.32%
- CAP Plc: -26.76%
- ABC Transport: -26.28%
- Haldane McCall: -25.77%
- Meyer: -18.93%
- Red Star Express: -18.53%
- Champion Breweries: -17.04%
- Nascon Allied Industries: -13.44%
Trading Activity & Liquidity
Liquidity levels remained healthy across 23 trading sessions in July 2026:
- Total Volume: 17.82 billion shares traded.
- Total Value: N1.184 trillion across 1.166 million deals.
- Daily Averages: 774.63 million shares valued at N51.47 billion in 50,694 deals per session.
- Market Breadth: Moderately positive with 728 advances vs. 619 declines (1,721 stocks remained unchanged).
Major Corporate Actions in July 2026
- Fortis Global Insurance: Completed a 4-for-1 share reconstruction on July 2 (reducing share capital from 12.91B to 3.23B shares at N3.96). Later listed 15 billion additional shares on July 30 following an N12 billion debt-to-equity conversion at N0.80 per share, expanding its total share count to 18.23 billion.
- Thomas Wyatt Nigeria: Trading resumed July 6 after lifting of NGX suspension following the filing of overdue financial results.
- Sterling Financial Holdings: Listed 13.81 billion subscription shares at N7.00 per share on July 16, taking total shares to 65.93 billion.
- Aluminium Extrusion: Suspended from trading on July 22 due to late filing of FY2025 audited financial statements.
- Linkage Assurance: Listed 12.32 billion rights issue shares at N1.32 on July 23, raising total issued shares to 30.80 billion.
- AVA Capital: Listed 5 billion ordinary shares by introduction on July 31 at N7.50 per share, adding N37.5 billion to total market capitalization.
- Corporate Rebranding: Abbey Mortgage Bank officially renamed to Abbey Bank (Ticker: ABBEYBANK), while Deap Capital Management & Trust was renamed to Critical Minerals Financing Corp (Ticker: CMFC).
