Nigerian Stock Market Gains ₦1.36tn in 3 Days

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) added ₦1.36 trillion to its market value in the first three trading days of the week, lifted by strong demand for large and mid-cap stocks, most notably MTN Nigeria.

The market opened the week at ₦91.135 trillion and closed Wednesday at ₦92.490 trillion, a 1.49% advance. In the same stretch, the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) climbed from 143,584.04 points at last week’s close to 145,719.09 points, up 2,135.05 points (+1.49%). Month-to-date and year-to-date returns stood at +2.1% and +41.6%, respectively.

MTN Nigeria was the standout mover. Across the three sessions, the stock rose 10.8% (₦45.90) to ₦470.90 from ₦425.00, lifting its market capitalisation to ₦9.89 trillion as of October 8, 2025.

Sector performance was broadly positive. The NGX Insurance Index advanced 4.4% to 1,265.84 points. The NGX Consumer Goods Index added 0.37% to 3,413.82 points. Oil & Gas stocks gained 3.05%, taking the index to 2,663.95 points, while the Industrial Goods Index inched up 0.68% to 5,112.11 points. Banking names lagged: the NGX Banking Index eased 0.59% to 1,517.71 points.

Sentiment has been buoyed by FTSE Russell placing Nigeria on its Watch List for a possible upgrade from Unclassified to Frontier Market status. The move followed reports that foreign-exchange backlogs and repatriation delays, which triggered Nigeria’s 2023 downgrad,e were cleared earlier in 2025. 

FTSE Russell said Nigeria now meets the five “Quality of Markets” criteria for Frontier classification, with a further assessment slated for March 2026.

Market commentators link the improvement to fiscal and monetary reforms, including FX market changes, fuel subsidy rationalisation, and efforts to ease doing business. These efforts, alongside tighter coordination among regulators, have together improved transparency, deepened liquidity, and lifted confidence among local and foreign investors.

NGX Group chief executive Temi Popoola welcomed the watch-list decision, calling it a validation of policy consistency and collaboration, and said the exchange will keep pushing for deeper liquidity, more listings, and technology-driven participation to make Nigeria’s market “visible and investable” globally.

Looking ahead, analysts at Cowry Asset Management expect the bullish tone to persist in the near term on ongoing interest in fundamentally strong counters and pre-earnings positioning ahead of Q3 2025 results.

They cautioned that intermittent profit-taking and fewer block trades could create mixed sessions but said the market’s strong year-to-date showing, broad sector gains, and rising retail activity continue to support stability.