Quote from Lydia on July 20, 2026, 2:47 pm

Strong gains in First HoldCo Plc helped cushion what could have been a steeper decline in the Nigerian equities market during the week ended Friday, July 17, 2026, with the banking stock emerging as the market’s standout performer after advancing 38.7% week-on-week.

First HoldCo’s share price climbed from N69.20 at the start of the week to close at N95.95 per share, extending its remarkable rally and providing significant support to market sentiment amid mixed trading across other sectors.

Overall, the Nigerian equities market ended the week on a mixed note.

The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) declined marginally by 0.14% week-on-week to close at 243,462.13 points, reflecting mild profit-taking in selected heavyweight stocks.

However, total market capitalisation rose by approximately N612 billion to N157.06 trillion, largely due to the additional listing of 13.812 billion ordinary shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Plc on the Nigerian Exchange.

Consequently, the market’s year-to-date return moderated slightly to 56.45%, while the month-to-date gain stood at 6.1%.

What the data is saying:

Trading activity slowed noticeably during the week. A total of 2.819 billion shares worth N182.499 billion changed hands in 226,729 deals, representing a 22.72% drop in volume and a 17.26% drop in value compared with the previous week’s 3.648 billion shares worth N220.568 billion traded in 251,861 deals.

• The Financial Services Industry again led activity by volume, with 2.006 billion shares worth N99.697 billion traded in 96,171 deals, making up 71.17% of total volume and 54.63% of total value.
• Consumer Goods came second, with 178.863 million shares worth N7.872 billion in 26,637 deals.
• Oil and Gas ranked third, with 151.237 million shares worth N38.309 billion in 16,879 deals.
• The top three stocks by volume — First HoldCo, FCMB Group and Access Holdings — accounted for 939.402 million shares worth N57.673 billion in 19,051 deals, or 33.33% of total volume and 31.60% of total value.

The index’s mild decline was driven by heavy losses in a handful of large-cap names: BUA Cement fell 19.0%, while BUA Foods, Nestlé, and Presco each dropped 10.0%, dragging the ASI lower even as banking stocks rallied.

Sectoral performance:

Sector results were mixed for the week.

• The Banking Index was the standout performer, gaining 9.30% on strong demand for First HoldCo and Fidelity Bank
• The Insurance Index added 0.25%, supported by Wapic, Veritas Kapital and Custodian.
• On the other end, Industrial Goods led the laggards with a 6.26% decline, weighed down by profit-taking in BUA Cement and CAP.
• Oil and Gas also slipped 0.11% on selloffs in Japaul Gold and Oando.

The Consumer Goods Index eased 0.15%, the NGX Main Board fell 1.54%, Lotus II lost 0.40%, Growth dropped 0.09%, and the Sovereign Bond Index declined 0.33%. The Commodity Index closed flat.

Top 10 Best-Performing Stocks:

• First HoldCo — up 38.66% to N95.95
• Thomas Wyatt Nigeria — up 27.16% to N3.09
• Fidelity Bank — up 15.00% to N21.85
• Learn Africa — up 14.44% to N10.30
• United Bank for Africa — up 10.98% to N45.50
• Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund — up 9.97% to N163.30
• LivingTrust Mortgage Bank — up 9.73% to N3.72
• Nigeria Real Estate Investment Trust Fund — up 9.71% to N113.00
• Stanbic IBTC Holdings — up 9.66% to N166.90
• Abbey Mortgage Bank — up 9.29% to N10.00

Top 10 Worst-Performing Stocks:

• BUA Cement — down 18.99% to N275.60
• Red Star Express — down 18.53% to N20.00
• International Energy Insurance — down 15.27% to N4.66
• C&I Leasing — down 13.28% to N5.55
• PZ Cussons Nigeria — down 10.06% to N80.95
• Eunisell Interlinked — down 10.00% to N189.00
• Caverton Offshore Support Group — down 9.91% to N5.00
• Chemical and Allied Products — down 9.61% to N142.45
• Japaul Gold & Ventures — down 8.95% to N2.95
• Cadbury Nigeria — down 8.95% to N57.00

Forty-four equities gained during the week, down from sixty the week before. Thirty-five equities lost value, up from twenty-eight, while sixty-seven stayed unchanged, up from fifty-eight.

Corporate actions:

Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc listed an additional 13.812 billion ordinary shares on July 16, 2026, following its earlier offer for subscription of 12.581 billion shares at N7.00 each. This raised the company’s total issued shares from 52.117 billion to 65.929 billion.

What you should know:

The week’s gains in First HoldCo, which hit a new high at N95.95 per share, up from N69.20 at the week’s opening price, added about N1.67 trillion to the overall market capitalization of First HoldCo, from N2.62 trillion at the beginning of the week to N4.3 trillion.

• Fidelity Bank (N21.85: up +15.00%), and Stanbic IBTC Holdings (N166.90: up +9.66%) further lifted banking sector performance.
• This contrasts sharply with losses in industrial names like BUA Cement (-19.0%), BUA Foods (-10.0%), Nestle (-10.0%) and Presco (-10.0%), showing how a few heavyweight stocks can move the market in opposite directions at once.

With H1 2026 earnings season approaching, investors may keep favouring fundamentally strong banking names, while profit-taking risk remains high in stocks that have run up quickly, such as First HoldCo, which is up nearly 39% for the week alone.

 

https://nairametrics.com/2026/07/20/best-performing-nigerian-stocks-for-the-week-ended-july-17-2026/