Blog Details

The Nigerian Exchange enjoyed an impressive run in February 2026, climbing 16.60% to close at 192,826.8 points and moving ever closer to the key 200,000 milestone.

Tracked by the All-Share Index, the surge marks a third straight month of gains since November 2025’s dip and stands as the strongest monthly performance since the 35.28% rally of January 2024.

Over the month’s four trading weeks, the market closed the first three in positive territory, surging past 194,000 in the penultimate week before a mild 1.11% decline brought the index back to 192,826.8.

So far this year, the market is up 23.91%, with over 36 billion shares traded, driven mainly by strong buying interest in industrial, oil and gas, and banking heavyweight stocks.

Trading data from the Nigerian Exchange shows the NGX Oil and Gas sector led February’s performance, rising 33.63% to close at 4,060.7 points.

Having started the month at 3,038.8 points, this represents a 1,021.9-point gain, with market volume exceeding 1.6 billion shares.

The NGX Industrial Goods sector followed, climbing 22.20% to break the 7,000-point barrier for the first time, closing at 7,314.6 with over 559 million shares traded.

Beyond Oil & Gas and Industrial Goods, other sectors also posted solid performances, reflecting broad-based market strength.

The NGX Banking sector was the third-best performer, rising (16.67%) to close at 1,892.1 points, with over 7.6 billion shares changing hands.

The NGX Consumer Goods sector followed, rising (6.51%) with over 1 billion shares traded, led by mid-cap stocks, while Nigerian Breweries (1.46%) was the only heavyweight to gain.

The NGX Insurance sector was the weakest performer, up just 2.31% to 1,359.9, led by Universal Insurance (23.33%), AXA Mansard (15.80%), Lasaco Assurance (15.67%), and Mutual Benefits (13.64%).

The All-Share Index is inching closer to the 200,000 threshold, and further rallies in large-cap stocks could push it higher.

The market is currently overbought across major timeframes and could witness a retracement, which investors might capitalize on.