Stock Market Hits N162.68 Trillion As Banks Lead Charge With Nigeria’s Return To Russell’s Frontier Market Index

The Nigerian stock market hit an all-time high this week, with bank shares leading the charge after Nigeria officially returned to FTSE Russell’s Frontier Market index, a move that brought foreign investors back into the market.

The NGX All-Share Index, which tracks the overall performance of Nigerian stocks, rose to 250,156.80 points on Monday, up slightly by 0.14 percent, as the reclassification took effect and investors started buying up shares in major banks. By Tuesday, the market climbed even higher, hitting a fresh peak of 250,614.66 points and pushing the total value of all listed companies on the exchange to N162.68 trillion, up from N162.39 trillion the day before.

Being reclassified as a Frontier Market means Nigeria is once again on the radar of big global investment funds that automatically buy into countries on that list. Nigeria had been left out of this club for three years because of problems getting foreign currency in and out of the country easily. Now that those issues have eased, these funds are starting to flow back in. Analysts expect the positive mood to continue in the coming days, as more of these global funds gradually move money into the market.

On Monday, Zenith Bank saw the most trading activity of any stock, with three times its usual volume of shares changing hands, worth about N9.9 billion, and its share price edged up to N128.60. Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) had the best price performance among the big banks, rising 3.9 percent to N133.90, while FirstHoldCo remained at N160 per share but still recorded increased trading value.

By Tuesday, more investors had joined in. Fidelity Bank became the most actively traded stock, with over 165 million shares changing hands, more than any other company that day. Fidelity Bank was followed by Zenith Bank, Access Holdings, Sterling Financial Holdings, and GTCO. Overall, 36 stocks went up in price while 26 went down, showing the gains were spread across the market rather than just concentrated in a few big names.

The rally wasn’t limited to banks only. NASCON Allied Industries jumped 10 percent and Dangote Cement rose 1.71 percent, while MTN Nigeria dropped 4.49 percent as some investors cashed out their profits.

Temi Popoola, who heads the Nigerian Exchange Group as Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said the market’s strong showing reflects the exchange’s bigger goal of helping raise capital for Nigerian businesses and getting more people involved in wealth creation. He added that the next step should be attracting more quality companies to list on the exchange. Jude Chiemeka, Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Limited, said the rise in the number of trades and shares changing hands was evidence that more people are now actively participating in the market.