Cement stocks drive rally on NGX as BUA and Dangote lift market by ₦833bn, boosting All-Share Index to 130,283.84 and YTD returns to 26.58%
Cement stocks drive rally on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) as investor interest surged on Thursday, propelling market capitalisation upwards by ₦833bn and lifting the benchmark index to fresh highs.
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Led by BUA Cement and Dangote Cement, the market recorded a 1.02 per cent gain in the All-Share Index, which closed at 130,283.84. This marked a sharp rise of 1,316.76 points from Wednesday’s figure.
The market capitalisation soared from ₦81.57tn to ₦82.4tn, taking the year-to-date return to 26.58 per cent.
“Cement stocks drive rally across the board, thanks to renewed appetite for large-cap equities,” said an equity analyst at Lagos-based CardinalStone Partners. “The industrial sector, in particular, benefited strongly from this momentum.”
A total of 129 equities were traded on Thursday. While 30 recorded gains, 46 declined. BUA Cement surged by 10 per cent to close at ₦112.20 per share, while Dangote Cement posted a 9.99 per cent increase to settle at ₦473.30.
Other top gainers included Chams Holding Company, First HoldCo (FBN Holdings Plc), and ABC Transport, each rising by close to 10 per cent.
However, losses were led by Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, which fell 10 per cent to close at ₦33.75.
Several others, including May & Baker, MeCure Industries, and John Holt Plc, also declined by the same margin, indicating some sectoral pullback.
The strong performance of industrial giants pushed the NGX Industrial Index up by 9.08 per cent—its biggest single-day increase in recent weeks.
The Premium Index and Top 30 Index gained 2.74 per cent and 1.08 per cent respectively.
Trading activity remained robust with a total volume of 1.19 billion shares exchanged in 37,418 deals, valued at ₦42.76bn.
While volume dipped slightly by four per cent from the previous session, turnover climbed seven per cent and the number of deals rose by two per cent.
Access Holdings Plc led the volume chart with 168.10 million shares traded in 2,889 deals worth ₦4.62bn.
FBN Holdings followed with 86.42 million shares in 1,454 deals valued at ₦3.04bn. Zenith Bank recorded 83.36 million shares in 2,118 transactions, worth ₦6.29bn.
On the value front, Zenith Bank Plc emerged as the top mover with ₦6.29bn in trade value.
Nigerian Breweries Plc followed with ₦5.08bn, while Access Holdings, FBN Holdings, and United Bank for Africa Plc rounded off the top five in value, with UBA recording ₦2.94bn in trades across 62.48 million shares.
This cement-driven rebound continues the bullish streak observed on Wednesday, when the market gained ₦1.44tn following strong demand for blue-chip stocks.
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With back-to-back gains and strong performances from industrial leaders, analysts predict continued positive sentiment if macroeconomic stability holds in the short term.
