The Nigerian equities market recorded a 0.54% daily gain on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, with the All-Share Index (ASI) rising by 1,084.7 points to close at 202,559.6, fueled by gains in BUA Cement and tier-one banks.
Trading activity strengthened, with market volume increasing to 1.75 billion shares from 948 million recorded in the previous session. Market capitalization also rose to N130.02 trillion, up from N129.3 trillion, as investors executed a total of 62,654 deals during the day.
Banking stocks drove most of the market activity, led by FCMB and Wema Bank in trading volumes. This bullish trend pushed the Nigerian market’s year-to-date return to 30.17%, as investors positioned themselves in select equities.
On the gainers’ side, BUA Cement surged by 10.00% to N326.70, while Premier Paints advanced by 9.86% to N23.40. Other notable gainers included Zenith Bank (7.91%), Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (7.14%), and RT Briscoe (6.67%).
Conversely, profit-taking impacted Presco and Caverton, which declined by 10.00% and 8.70%, respectively. Other laggards included Secure Electronic Technology (-7.69%), Guinea Insurance (-6.43%), and International Breweries (-6.35%).
In terms of trading volume, FCMB led with 516.2 million shares, followed by Wema Bank (213.3 million) and Zenith Bank (163.1 million). By market value, Zenith Bank topped with N18.1 billion, followed by GTCO (N12.3 billion), MTN Nigeria (N8.9 billion), FCMB (N6.5 billion), and Aradel (N6.2 billion).
The Nigerian equities market crossed the N130 trillion value mark for the first time, reflecting both price gains and increased trading volume. Analysts say market momentum remains strong, with banking stocks continuing to draw significant investor interest.
