The Nigerian equities market ended Monday, 12 January 2026, on a positive note as the All-Share Index (ASI) rose 946.6 points to 163,244.7 points, clearing the 163,000 threshold.
Trading activity surged, with 1.14 billion shares changing hands, up from 624 million in the previous session, reflecting stronger investor participation.
Market capitalization rose to N104.5 trillion across 59,359 deals, compared with N103.7 trillion on Friday.
What the data is sayingThe ASI’s 0.58% gain on Monday lifted the year-to-date performance to 4.90%, reflecting ongoing investor confidence.
Top gainers included: Deap Capital Management, Etranzact, UPDC, McNichols, RT Briscoe, and Red Star Express, each rising 10.00%.
On the other hand, Champion and Eunisell led the losers, falling 8.51% and 8.01% respectively.
Volume movers At the top of the volume chart was Sovereign Trust Insurance with 307.4 million shares traded, then Fidelity Bank with 158.3 million and LinkAssure with 118.7 million.
Mutual Benefits Assurance and Lasaco completed the top five with 31.4 million and 31 million shares respectively.
By transaction value, Fidelity Bank led with N3.1 billion, followed by Aradel (N1.4 billion), Zenith Bank (N1.1 billion), Eunisell (N1.05 billion), and Sovereign Trust Insurance (N1 billion).
Top 5 Gainers
• ETRANZACT — Up 10.00% to N16.50
• REDSTAREX — Up 10.00% to N11.55
• MCHNICHOLS — Up 10.00% to N6.05
• UPDC — Up 10.00% to N5.50
• RTBRISCOE — Up 10.00% to N3.96
Top 5 Losers
• CHAMPION — Down 8.51% to N15.05
• EUNISELL — Down 8.01% to N156.20
• IKEJAHOTEL — Down 8.00% to N36.80
• GUINEANS — Down 7.30% to N1.27
• OMATEK — Down 3.12% to N1.24
SWOOTs and FUGAZ highlightsStocks worth over one trillion naira (SWOOTs) broadly trended bullish with Lafarge up 6%, Nigerian Breweries rising 4%, Aradel gaining 3.73% and International Breweries advancing 0.68%.
On the downside, Stanbic IBTC slipped marginally.
Among the FUGAZ banking stocks, First Holdco rose 5.21%, Access Holdings gained 1.55%, GTCO added 0.25%, while UBA and Zenith Bank closed flat.
Why this mattersThe ASI holding above 163,000 points signals sustained confidence in key equities early in 2026.
Strong performance in mid- and large-cap stocks suggests the market could sustain its upward trend, though there remains a possibility of a retracement given overbought conditions.
Image Credit: Nairametrics
Souurce: Nairametrics
