Nestle, Guinness, others lift stock market by N331bn

The Nigerian stock market closed bullish on Thursday, December 18, 2025, leading to N331 billion gains for investors.

This marked the fourth consecutive positive rally in the week.

The positive performance was driven by sustained investor’s interest in stocks such as Nestle Nigeria, Guinness Nigeria, Aluminium Extrusion Industries, Daar Communications, Mucure, and 30 others.

The market capitalisation, which opened at N95.525 trillion, added 331 billion or 0.35 per cent to close at N95.856 trillion.

The All-Share Index also gained by 0.35 per cent or 520.23 points, to settle at 150,363.05 against 149,842.82 recorded on Wednesday.

As a result, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 46.09 per cent while the market breadth closed positive with 35 gainers and 26 losers.

Nestle Nigeria led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent, settling at N1,958, Guinness Nigeria followed by 9.98 per cent, closing at N289.70, while Aluminium Extrusion Industries grew by 9.76 per cent, finishing at N11.25 per share.

Daar Communications rose by 9.20 per cent, closing at 95k while Mecure Industries increased by 9.13 per cent, settling at N55 per share.

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Conversely, Stanbic led the losers’ chart by 9.33 per cent, finishing at N95.20, Lasaco Assurance trailed by 9.09 per cent, ending the session at N2.50, and Africa Prudential dipped by 8.82 per cent, closing at N12.40 per share.

Austinlaz fell by 8.33 per cent, finishing at N2.20, while Sterling Nigeria shed by 6.12 per cent, closing at N6.90 per share.

Analysis of the market activity revealed an overall decline in the market deals, volume and value with 839.8 million shares worth N32.8 billion traded across 23,211 transactions.

This is compared to 5.9 billion shares worth N216.2 billion traded in 25,205 transactions earlier recorded.

Meanwhile, First Holding Company recorded the highest volume and value, with 385.62 million shares traded, at N15.54 billion.

The Star