The Nigerian All-Share Index closed higher on 19 May 2026, rising 1,324.1 points to settle at 251,635.4 and ending a four-session losing streak.
Data from NGX showed 0.53% gain was driven by strength in BUA Cement and large-cap banking stocks. Trading volume climbed to 703.9 million shares, up from 528 million in the prior session.
Market capitalization advanced to N161.2 trillion across 64,539 deals, compared to N160.36 trillion a day earlier.
Access Holdings led activity by volume with 88.4 million shares traded. Zenith Bank topped the value chart with N3.9 billion in trades.
Market sentiment turns positive:
Investor sentiment improved, pushing the year-to-date return to 61.71%, up from 60.79% in the previous session.
FTN Cocoa and Zichis Agro-Allied led gainers, rising 10.00% and 9.97% to close at N9.79 and N29.13 respectively. Other strong performers included Sky Aviation, Caverton, and Japaul Gold, all up nearly 10%.
On the losing side, Unilever Nigeria and Trans-Nationwide Express fell 10.00% and 9.92% to N153.00 and N6.99. Sovereign Trust Insurance, McNichols, and Austin Laz also posted declines.
Sector and stock breakdown:
Among stocks worth over one trillion naira, BUA Cement gained 5.75%, while Nigerian Breweries lost 2.33% and Wema Bank shed 0.61%.
In the FUGAZ banking group, First HoldCo advanced 3.77%, United Bank for Africa rose 2.74%, and Zenith Bank added 1.50%. Access Holdings and Guaranty Trust Holding slipped 1.17% and 0.55%.
Sector performance was mixed. The NGX Industrial Goods Index gained 2.27% and the NGX Banking Index rose 0.98%. The NGX Insurance, Oil and Gas, and Consumer Goods indices declined by 1.64%, 0.32%, and 0.93% respectively.
Analysts note that a move above the 252,400-point resistance level could confirm a stronger bullish trend.
