NGX ASI rises 1.20% on final August trading day

A late burst of buying lifted Nigeria’s All-Share Index by 1.20% on the final trading day of August, helping the market retain most of its strong gains for the year.

The rise brought the index’s year-to-date return to 56.93%. It also limited the benchmark’s decline for August to 0.44%, after profit-taking and portfolio rebalancing weighed on trading during the month. Buying interest was particularly visible in mid- and small-cap shares, including Ikeja Hotel, SUNU Assurances Nigeria and Sovereign Trust Insurance.

Trading value climbed 29.65% on Aug. 31 to 38.66 billion naira, compared with 29.82 billion naira in the previous session. Investors exchanged 606.13 million shares in 53,364 deals. Total equity-market capitalisation ended the month at 157.74 trillion naira, down from 158.33 trillion naira at the end of July. In dollar terms, however, valuation increased from $115.72 billion to $118.34 billion.

Market analysts expect portfolio adjustments to support trading in the coming weeks as Nigeria approaches an index reclassification. FTSE Russell confirmed in late August that it would move Nigeria from “Unclassified” back to “Frontier Market” status at the market open on Sept. 21, 2026.

An analyst at Coronation Securities said institutional investors had already begun taking positions in major stocks ahead of the change. “We expect the tone to remain constructive, with anticipatory positioning around the Frontier Market reclassification likely to lend further support to large-cap banking and energy names into September,” the analyst said.

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We expect the tone to remain constructive, with anticipatory positioning around the Frontier Market reclassification likely to lend further support to large-cap banking and energy names into September.