The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) sustained its strong 2026 performance in July as aggressive demand for banking and other large-cap stocks lifted the All-Share Index by 6.92 percent and added more than N11 trillion to the value of listed equities.
The NGX All-Share Index closed July at 245,283.68, representing a 6.92 percent monthly gain, while equity market capitalisation ended the month at N158.326 trillion.
Compared with the N147.103 trillion market capitalisation recorded during the first trading week of July, listed equities added approximately N11.2 trillion in value as investors increased exposure to Nigerian stocks.
The performance pushed the market’s year-to-date return to 57.62 percent, extending one of the strongest periods of equity appreciation on the Nigerian Exchange in recent years.
July’s advance, however, was not evenly distributed across the market.
Banking stocks emerged as the dominant force with the NGX Banking Index surging 22.10 percent during the month, more than three times the 6.92 percent return recorded by the broader market.
The rally reflected sustained demand for financial stocks as investors positioned around half-year earnings, dividend expectations and improving profitability across major Nigerian financial institutions.
The NGX Premium Index also recorded a substantial 16.77 percent monthly gain, while the NGX Pension Index advanced 12.75 percent.
Insurance stocks strengthened toward the latter part of the month, helping the NGX Insurance Index rise 9.28 percent in July.
Other positive performances included the NGX MERI Value Index, which gained 7.59 percent, the Oil and Gas Index at 3.21 percent, and the Industrial Goods Index at 3.57 percent.
The strong performance of banking stocks was particularly significant because financial services also dominated market liquidity throughout July.
Access Holdings, First HoldCo, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Zenith Bank and FCMB Group repeatedly ranked among the most actively traded equities as investors increased positions in the sector.
First HoldCo eventually became one of the defining stocks of the month following a series of exceptionally large transactions connected to billionaire investor and Chairman Olufemi Otedola.
Otedola entered July with an estimated 20.40 percent beneficial interest in First HoldCo based on the company’s June 30 shareholding position.
On July 22, Calvados Global Services Limited, a company related to Otedola, acquired 706.13 million First HoldCo shares at N109.88 per share, valuing the transaction at approximately N77.6 billion.
That acquisition increased his estimated beneficial ownership to approximately 21.95 percent.
Eight days later, Calvados returned to the market with a substantially larger transaction.
On July 30, the company acquired another 1.779 billion First HoldCo shares at N124.90 per share, representing an investment of approximately N222.2 billion.
Following the transaction, Otedola’s estimated beneficial ownership increased to approximately 25.85 percent, up from 20.40 percent at the end of June.
Combined, the two disclosed July acquisitions represented approximately N299.8 billion invested in additional First HoldCo shares.
The July 30 transaction was sufficiently large to reshape market turnover for both the trading session and the final week of the month.
A total of 2.102 billion shares worth N230.74 billion exchanged hands on the NGX on July 30 alone, compared with N33.71 billion worth of equities traded in the preceding session.
For the week ended July 31, investors traded 5.119 billion shares valued at N404.762 billion, with First HoldCo, AVA Capital and Access Holdings alone accounting for N224.773 billion, or 55.53 percent of total equity turnover value.
The extraordinary transaction activity, however, came as the broader market was beginning to retreat from its July highs.
The month had started with strong bullish momentum.
By the week ended July 10, the All-Share Index had climbed sharply as investors accumulated large-cap equities, particularly financial and industrial stocks. That rally established much of the foundation for July’s eventual 6.92 percent monthly return.
Momentum remained positive through the middle of the month before the market moved into a more selective phase characterised by sector rotation.
Banking stocks continued to attract significant liquidity, while insurance counters increasingly emerged among the leading gainers toward the end of July.
The ASI eventually reached 247,984.55 on July 28, but investors subsequently increased profit-taking after the strong advance.
Selling pressure intensified on July 29 and July 30, with the index falling to 245,362.26 by the end of Thursday before closing the month at 245,283.68 on Friday.
The final week’s performance highlighted the change in sentiment.
The ASI declined 0.84 percent during the week ended July 31, reversing part of the 1.60 percent gain recorded in the preceding week.
Market breadth also deteriorated considerably.
Only 33 equities appreciated during the final week of July, compared with 57 in the previous week, while the number of decliners jumped to 56 from 38.
The daily pattern showed selling pressure building as the week progressed.
Monday recorded 28 gainers against 32 decliners. The position improved Tuesday, with 35 stocks advancing against 24 losers, before sentiment deteriorated sharply on Wednesday when 45 equities declined against only 23 gainers.
Thursday produced an even weaker breadth reading, with just 18 gainers compared with 44 decliners. The market recovered somewhat on Friday, when 34 stocks advanced against 29 decliners, but the improvement was insufficient to erase the losses accumulated during the middle of the week.
This suggests that July ended with investors increasingly taking profits following the substantial appreciation recorded earlier in the month.
The divergence across sectors further demonstrates that the month’s gains were increasingly concentrated.
While banking advanced 22.10 percent, the NGX Consumer Goods Index declined 4.11 percent during July.
The NGX Growth Index suffered an even sharper 33 percent monthly decline, highlighting the significant difference between the performance of market leaders and weaker segments of the Exchange.
Despite the late-month correction, several major indices retained exceptional gains for 2026.
The NGX Premium Index ended July 86.22 percent higher year-to-date, while Industrial Goods had gained 85.42 percent.
The Pension Index was up 76.12 percent, the Banking Index had returned 66.74 percent, and the All-Share Index remained 57.62 percent higher since the beginning of the year.
Oil and Gas remained one of the strongest longer-term performers, with a 96.32 percent year-to-date gain, despite advancing only 3.21 percent during July.
The performance indicates that the final-week selloff represented a moderation of an exceptionally strong rally rather than a reversal of the broader 2026 market trend.
July therefore produced two distinct signals for investors.
On one hand, the 6.92 percent rise in the All-Share Index, approximately N11.2 trillion expansion in market value and exceptional performance of banking stocks demonstrated continued confidence in Nigerian equities.
On the other, deteriorating market breadth and the late-month decline showed that investors were becoming increasingly selective after substantial gains accumulated earlier in the year.
Banking remained the clearest winner.
A 22.10 percent monthly increase in the Banking Index compared with the broader market’s 6.92 percent gain shows that financial stocks were not merely participating in July’s rally but were one of its principal drivers.
Meanwhile, Otedola’s aggressive accumulation of First HoldCo shares added another dimension to financial-sector activity, producing some of the largest transactions recorded during the month and reinforcing investor attention on the banking group.
With the ASI already up 57.62 percent in 2026, August trading is likely to test whether strong corporate earnings and continued institutional demand can sustain valuations after July’s advance or whether investors will extend the profit-taking that emerged during the final trading sessions of the month.
