The Nigerian All-Share Index closed Monday’s trading session in positive territory, rising to 204,458.9 points on April 13, 2026, marking the first time the index has crossed the 204,000 level in the history of Nigeria’s equities market.
The gain represents a 0.34% increase from 203,770.4 points recorded in the previous trading session, highlighting sustained investor confidence in the Nigerian market despite weaker trading activity.
Although the market ended higher, trading volume declined slightly, with 470 million shares exchanged, compared with 548 million shares traded in the previous session.
Market capitalization on the Nigerian Exchange Limited rose to N131.6 trillion across 60,793 deals, up from N131.1 trillion recorded in the previous trading day. Value trades were largely driven by Aradel Holdings Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc.
Investor sentiment remained strongly bullish, with the Nigerian stock market maintaining a year-to-date return of 31.4%, reflecting continued confidence among market participants.
On the gainers’ chart, NGX Group Plc and Trans-Nationwide Express Plc led the advance, posting 10.00% and 9.81% price gains, respectively. However, some stocks experienced profit-taking pressure, as Berger Paints Nigeria Plc and Academy Press Plc declined by 9.95% and 9.71%, respectively.
In terms of trading activity, Access Holdings Plc recorded the highest volume with 54.9 million shares traded, followed by GTCO with 43.5 million shares and Zenith Bank Plc with 42.2 million shares.
Other notable trades included JaPaul Gold and Ventures Plc, which recorded 19.2 million shares, while Chams Plc exchanged 19.06 million shares.
By value traded, Aradel Holdings led the market with N7.05 billion, followed by GTCO at N5.84 billion and Zenith Bank at N4.75 billion. Meanwhile, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc recorded N4.04 billion in transactions, while Access Holdings rounded out the top value-traded list with N1.4 billion.
Among large-capitalisation stocks valued above one trillion naira, International Breweries Plc surged 8.61%, while Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc gained 6.52% and Nigerian Breweries Plc rose 5.57%, emerging as the strongest large-cap gainers of the session. On the downside, Wema Bank Plc recorded a marginal decline of 0.58%.
Performance within the FUGAZ banking group was mixed. Zenith Bank emerged as the only gainer in the group, edging up 0.54%, while First Holdco Plc slipped 1.73%, Access Holdings declined 2.31%, United Bank for Africa Plc eased 0.85%, and GTCO fell 0.74%.
Despite the lower trading volume recorded during the session, gains in major stocks such as International Breweries, Nigerian Breweries, and Stanbic IBTC helped sustain the market’s bullish momentum, pushing the benchmark index to its highest level ever recorded in Nigeria’s equities market.
