Cadbury, NAHCO, Dangote Cement Lead NGX Rally as Investors Gain N1.86 trillion

….ASI rises 1.24% to 237,083.28 points; YTD return strengthens to 52.35% as all five sectors close higher

The Nigerian equities market sustained its bullish run on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, as broad-based buying interest across banking, industrial goods, consumer goods, oil and gas, and insurance sectors lifted the benchmark index for the second consecutive session, adding N1.86 trillion to investor wealth.

The NGX All-Share Index advanced 1.24% to close at 237,083.28 points from 234,178.23 points recorded on Monday. Market capitalisation rose by N1.86 trillion to N152.14 trillion.

The year-to-date return strengthened to 52.35%, recovering back above the 50% threshold after weeks of correction pressure. Month-to-date return also improved to +3.3%.

The session’s broad participation — with 54 gainers against just 17 losers — confirmed that buying interest is widening beyond select large-cap names and into mid- and small-cap counters, a signal analysts typically associate with improving market confidence.

What the data is saying:

Renewed demand for fundamentally strong stocks across all major sectors underpinned Tuesday’s advance. Highlights of the session:

• All-Share Index: 237,083.28 points, up 1.24%
• Market Capitalisation: N152.14 trillion, up approximately N1.86 trillion
• Volume Traded: 493.67 million shares, down 8.35%
• Value Traded: N28.02 billion, down 27.59%
• Deals: 49,969 transactions
• Year-to-Date Return: 52.35%
• Month-to-Date Return: +3.3%
• Market Breadth: 54 gainers vs 17 losers (3.3x)

Top 5 Gainers:

• Cadbury Nigeria (CADBURY) — up 10.00% to N61.60
• Zichis Agro-Allied Industries (ZICHIS) — up 10.00% to N26.62
• Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) — up 9.99% to N147.00
• Daar Communications (DAARCOMM) — up 9.94% to N1.99
• Ikeja Hotel (IKEJAHOTEL) — up 9.90% to N47.20

Top 5 Losers:

• Critical Minerals Financing Corp (CMFC) — down 10.00% to N3.33
• FTG Insurance (FTGINSURE) — down 10.00% to N2.61
• Trans-Nationwide Express (TRANSEXPR) — down 10.00% to N2.70
• Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) — down 9.98% to N85.70
• MeCure Industries (MECURE) — down 9.96% to N85.45

More insights:

Tuesday’s session was defined by widespread rally across all five major sectoral indices — a relatively rare occurrence during the current market cycle that signals genuine breadth rather than index-level distortion from a handful of heavyweight stocks.

• The Industrial Goods Index led sectoral gains with a 3.4% advance.
• Dangote Cement surged 5.40% and WAPCO rose 4.83%. Both stocks helped to boost Tuesday’s advance a meaningful partial recovery for the sector.
• The Oil & Gas Index added 0.6%, supported by Aradel Holdings’ 1.62% gain and Transcorp’s 6.13% advance.
• Aradel remains far below its H1 peak of N1,750.00 but is showing signs of stabilisation after its steep June correction.
• The Consumer Goods Index gained 0.5%, with Cadbury’s 10% maximum daily gain leading the charge — the stock has been among the more volatile consumer names during the correction phase.
• The Insurance Index advanced 1.2%, while the Banking Index edged 0.1% higher despite Zenith Bank dominating the volume and value charts for the third consecutive session.
• Zenith Bank dominated trade with 94.29 million shares worth N9.91 billion — accounting for 19.11% of total volume and 35.60% of total session value.

Other notable individual movers included Vitafoam (+8.17%), The Initiates Plc (+8.10%), Transcorp (+6.13%), NGX Group (+5.59%), FCMB (+4.50%), First HoldCo (+4.38%), United Capital (+2.88%), MTN Nigeria (+2.62%), Chams (+2.18%), UBA (+1.89%), Access Holdings (+1.49%), and Dangote Sugar (+1.41%).

The breadth of the list of gainers spanning financial services, consumer goods, telecoms, and conglomerates confirms a market-wide recovery.

• On the losers’ side, three stocks hit the maximum 10% daily downside limit simultaneously. Critical Minerals Financing Corp (formerly Deap Capital), FTG Insurance, and Trans-Nationwide Express all fell to their floor prices. Ecobank Transnational shed 9.98% to N85.70, while MeCure Industries lost 9.96% to N85.45 — continuing the volatility that has characterised small-cap momentum names throughout the correction cycle.
• Trading activity moderated in volume and value terms. Total volume fell 8.35% to 493.67 million shares and value traded declined 27.59% to N28.02 billion.

The moderation in turnover, against a rising index and strongly positive breadth, suggests that the session’s gains were driven by selective but conviction-driven buying rather than high-frequency repositioning.

What you should know:

Tuesday’s N1.86 trillion gain is the third consecutive session of meaningful recovery since last Friday, July 3, following the market’s extended June correction.

• The ASI has now climbed back to 237,083.28 points — still more than 15,000 points below the all-time high of 252,508 points reached in May 2026, but recovering ground steadily.
• The YTD return of 52.35% recrosses the 50% threshold that the market fell below for the first time on June 27, 2026.
• All five major sectoral indices — Industrial Goods (+3.4%), Insurance (+1.2%), Oil & Gas (+0.6%), Consumer Goods (+0.5%), and Banking (+0.1%) — closed higher on the day.

Analysts expect that strong H1 results from FUGAZ banks, energy companies, and consumer goods names could provide the fundamental anchor needed to sustain the current recovery and drive a more durable return to above-50% year-to-date performance levels.