Equities Market Sustains Bullish Momentum on Tuesday With the NGXASI Up 0.54%; BDC Rate Appreciates to N1,395/US$1
Snapshot
On Tuesday, March 17, 2026, the Nigerian equities market closed on a bright note, extending the gains recorded in previous sessions, as investors continue to cherry-pick stocks like BUACEMENT (+10.00%), PREMPAINTS (+9.86%), ZENITHBANK (+7.91%), NAHCO (+7.14%), WEMABANK (+6.35%), TIP (+6.32%), UBA (+6.04%), BERGER (+5.93%), IKEJAHOTEL (+5.55%), GTCO (+4.53%), FIRSTHOLDCO (+4.00%), ACCESSCORP (+2.77%), NGXGROUP (+2.50%), VITAFOAM (+1.12%), DANGCEM (+0.88%), UACN (+0.50%), WAPCO (+0.46%), ETI (+0.11%), PZ (+0.07%), and 20 others. As such, the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) advanced 0.54% to settle at 202,559.41 points, up from 201,474.89 points on Monday.
Total market capitalisation increased to N130.03trn, while the ASI year-to-date (YTD) return improved to 30.17%, reflecting sustained investor confidence in the local equities.
Market breadth closed bullish, with 39 gainers against 34 decliners. BUACEMENT topped the gainers’ chart, while PRESCO led the decliners. Meanwhile, BUACEMENT, PREMPAINTS and ZENITHBANK traded above their 52-week high at N326.70, N23.40 and N111.15, respectively.
The Proshare Memorandum Index also extended a bullish trend, with the price-weighted return up 2.87% to 1,250.54 points from 1,215.66 points in the previous session, on broad-based price appreciation across constituent stocks, while the float-adjusted return increased by 3.98% to settle at 913.76 points, up from 878.78 points, suggesting a strong performance among higher-float equities.
Volume and Value Contribution
Market activity was up for the day, with total volume traded up 84.75% to 1.75bn, valued at N88.10bn across 62,654. FCMB recorded the highest volume with 516.23m units traded, accounting for 29.47% of the volume traded for the day, while ZENITHBANK recorded the highest value with N18.10bn units traded, accounting for 20.55% of the day’s total value. WEMABANK and ZENITHBANK accounted for 12.18% and 9.31% of total volume, respectively, while GTCO and MTNN followed ZENITHBANK in traded value.
NGX Earnings Summary
Corporate Results
No Financial statement was released on the NGX website today.
NGX Corporate News
- Mcnichols Consolidated Plc Notices Of Board Meeting – NGX
- Airtel Africa Plc Transaction In Own Shares – NGX
- Guinness Nig Plc Notices Of Annual General Meeting – NGX
For more analysis of the NGX-listed equities, click here.
1.2 NASD OTC Exchange – Unlisted Equities
Conversely, the unlisted NASD Securities Index (NSI) extended previous sessions’ losses to close Tuesday bearish, down 0.35% to 4,130.89 points from 4,145.60 points on Monday.
The total volume traded advanced to 921,265 valued at N54.70m across 38 deals.
At the close of trading, the NASD OTC recorded four (4) gainers and three (3) losers.
1.3 Global Indices
The global indices closed higher on Tuesday, with Brazil’s Bovespa leading the gainers chart. For more updates on the Global scene, click here.
1.4 African Indices
The prices in the African market are relatively favourable today. For the latest data and updates, please kindly click here.
2. Bonds and Fixed-Income Markets
2.1 Debt Market Size
The Debt Market Size was unavailable at the time of publishing this report.
2.2 Overnight and Open Repo (OPR)
The Overnight and Open Repo rates were unavailable while preparing the report.
3.1 AFEX Indices
On Tuesday, the AFEX, ACI and AEI closed flat at N40.68 and N32.22, respectively. Data on AFEX Indices can be accessed here.
3.2 AFEX Commodity Prices
For commodities at the AFEX Market on Tuesday, all were unchanged but maize, which increased 15.00% to close at N233.16. Click here to access more data on AFEX commodity prices.
3.3 LCFE Commodity Price(s)
Eko Gold, Premium Eko Rice, and Eko Rice Classic prices at the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) remained unchanged on Tuesday, closing at N140,000.00 per gram, N50,000.00 per 50kg, and N55,000 per 50kg, respectively.
3.4 Global Commodity Prices
In the global commodity market, Gold and Silver rose 0.41% and 0.86%, respectively, to close at US$5,016.86 and US$81.12. Brent and WTI crude advanced 6.36% and 1.74%, respectively, to close at US$102.15 and US$95.13 as at 02:13 PM GMT on Tuesday, recovering some of the previous session’s losses as Iranian attacks on the United Arab Emirates rekindled supply fears, while the Strait of Hormuz remains largely shut.
The average BDC rate appreciated 0.36% to N1,395/USD from N1,400/USD on Tuesday, while the NFEM rate closed at N1,357.77/USD on Monday.
