The Nigerian equities market extended its bullish momentum on May 11, 2026, gaining 5,709.7 points to close at an all-time high of 250,485.6 points.
The strong rally represented a 2.33% increase from the previous close of 244,775.8 points, driven by renewed investor confidence in large-cap stocks, particularly banking equities and industrial giants.
Market capitalisation also climbed significantly from N157.02 trillion to N160.2 trillion, while trading activity strengthened as total volume traded rose to 1.4 billion shares from 1.06 billion shares in the previous session. Total deals executed settled at 94,834.
Banking Stocks, Dangote Cement Drive Market Gains
Investor appetite remained strongest in heavyweight stocks, with major gains recorded across the banking and industrial sectors.
Dangote Cement surged 8.46%, while MTN Nigeria gained 2.32% and Nigerian Breweries advanced 3.5%.
The FUGAZ banking group also posted strong performances:
- FirstHoldCo rose 9.96%
- GTCO gained 6.25%
- UBA climbed 5.75%
- Zenith Bank appreciated 4.76%
- Access Holdings advanced 2.12%
Top Gainers and Losers
The session’s top gainers included:
- Chams — up 10.00% to N3.41
- FTN Cocoa — up 10.00% to N9.13
- International Energy Insurance — up 10.00% to N2.86
- Livestock Feeds — up 10.00% to N8.80
- RT Briscoe — up 10.00% to N16.50
Meanwhile, the biggest laggards were:
- Prestige Assurance — down 10.00%
- Sovereign Trust Insurance — down 9.96%
- University Press — down 9.09%
- Ellah Lakes — down 9.05%
- Tantalizers — down 7.69%
Trading Activity Intensifies
Trading activity remained robust across major counters.
Veritas Kapital led the volume chart with 194.6 million shares traded, followed by Access Holdings with 172.2 million shares and FirstHoldCo with 148.9 million units.
On the value chart:
- MTN Nigeria recorded the highest transaction value at N12.3 billion
- FirstHoldCo followed with N11.06 billion
- Dangote Cement posted N7.5 billion
- Zenith Bank recorded N5.3 billion
- GTCO closed with N4.5 billion in traded value
Sector Performance Stays Positive
Sectoral indices closed broadly in positive territory:
- NGX Banking Index gained 4.67%
- Industrial Goods Index rose 4.32%
- Consumer Goods Index advanced 0.74%
- Insurance Index added 0.59%
- Oil and Gas Index edged up 0.03%
The latest performance pushed the market’s year-to-date return to 60.97%, up from 57.3% in the previous session, reinforcing bullish sentiment across the Nigerian stock market.
