The bulls held firm on the Nigerian Exchange today, pushing the benchmark index up by 0.45 % to close at 108,849.83 points as investor appetite remained strong across key banking and consumer names.
Backed by broad-based buying interest, notable gainers included GTCO (+3.85%), ETI (+9.86%), Zenith Bank (+2.08%), Transcorp (+1.73%), Nigerian Breweries (+3.52%), International Breweries (+6.44%), Access Holdings (+1.41%), Honeywell Flour Mills (+9.81%), Dangote Sugar (+2.16%), First Holdco (+1.01%), Fidelity Bank (+1.50%), and Beta Glass (+9.98%) — lifting overall market breadth well into positive territory.
On the flip side, mild profit-taking in Presco (-2.28%), Oando (-2.29%), and Okomu Oil (-2.29%) capped gains on select counters. Meanwhile, Aradel was marked down for a ₦22.00 dividend today, with a reference price of ₦503.00.
Market turnover closed at ₦9.6 billion (US$6.0 million), dominated by block trades in GTCO, alongside strong flows in Zenith Bank, Nigerian Breweries, Fidelity, and UBA. Year to date, the index is up +5.90%. With sentiment skewed to the upside and risk appetite holding firm, we expect bullish momentum to persist in the near term.