Nigerian stock market closed January 2026 on a strong note, as gains in 20 key stocks, spanning heavyweight blue chips and smaller, high-volatility names, combined to lift overall market performance on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
A review of stock market data for January shows price appreciation in 10 high-cap and 10 cherry-picking stocks that drove the NGX performance in the review month.
Pinnacle Daily analysis of the year-to-date (YTD) price movements of these stocks, measured from Friday, January 2, when the market opened for the month, through Friday, January 30, when the market closed for the month, highlighted a two-track market performance.
Its review indicates steady appreciation among high-capitalisation stocks and outsized gains in select “cherry-picking” equities.
Kicking off on a strong footing, the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) YTD recorded a 6.27 per cent YTD return to close at 165,370.40 points in January, from the 155,613.03 points it started this year.
Similarly, the market capitalisation surged by ₦6.78 trillion, reaching ₦106.15 trillion as of January 30, up from ₦99.376 trillion at the end of 2025.
Pinnacle Daily reported earlier that the stock market passed a historic ₦100 trillion threshold early in the year, highlighting its resilience amid ongoing domestic and global uncertainties.
10 high-cap stocks that anchor market performance
Among the large-capitalisation and blue-chip stocks, Lafarge Africa (WAPCO) emerged as the best performer, posting a YTD gain of 16.73 per cent to close at ₦157.00.
The energy heavyweight Aradel followed closely with a 16.45 per cent increase, ending the month at ₦780.20.
Banking stocks also played a key role in supporting market breadth as Zenith Bank rose 15.61 per cent to ₦71.45, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) gained 14.56 per cent to close at ₦48.00. GTCO rounded out the top banking names with a 9.15 per cent YTD appreciation to ₦99.00.
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In the oil and gas space, Seplat Energy advanced 15.34 per cent to ₦6,700.00, reinforcing investor appetite for upstream and energy-linked stocks.
The agriculture sector also featured prominently, with Presco gaining 12.76 per cent to ₦1,635.00 and Okomu Oil Palm rising 10.18 per cent to ₦1,206.50.
Telecommunications giant MTN Nigeria Communications added 11.94 per cent to close at ₦572.00, while Nestlé Nigeria recorded a 10.00 per cent YTD increase to ₦2,153.80, reflecting renewed interest in select consumer goods names.
Overall, the top-performing 10 high-cap stocks cut across industrial goods, oil and gas, banking, agriculture, ICT and consumer goods, underscoring the broad-based nature of January’s rally.
However, not all large stocks participated in the uptrend as BUA Foods, Geregu Power, TotalEnergies Nigeria and Transcorp Power remained flat, recording zero YTD price change as of January 30.
10 cherry-picking stocks that deliver outsized returns
While high-cap stocks provided stability, the strongest gains on the NGX in January 2026 came from smaller-capitalised and more volatile equities.
Deap Capital Management and Trust (DEAPCAP) topped the entire market with a staggering 394.21 per cent YTD gain to close at a share price of ₦9.39.
SCOA Nigeria followed with a 345.07 per cent surge, closing at ₦31.60, as renewed speculative interest drove prices higher.
NCR Nigeria sustained its momentum from the previous year, posting a 173.73 per cent YTD increase to a share price of ₦199.00, while Omatek Ventures rallied 165.49 per cent to ₦3.00 on the back of strong interest in ICT-linked stocks.
Red Star Express gained 139.08 per cent to ₦20.80, with RT Briscoe close behind at 124.57 per cent to ₦7.86 per share.
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Multiverse Mining and Exploration recorded a 111.61 per cent rise to ₦28.25, leading gains in the natural resources segment, while Zichis Investments advanced 110.55 per cent to ₦4.19 among agriculture-related stocks.
MCNichols climbed 94.19 per cent to ₦6.35 in the consumer goods space, and May & Baker Nigeria capped the list with an 84.21 per cent YTD gain to ₦35.00 per share, respectively, making it the strongest performer in the healthcare sector.
High prospect for Nigerian equities
Market outlook shows that the sharp contrast between steady high-cap gains and explosive rallies in cherry-picking stocks reflects a market driven by both institutional positioning and retail-led speculative trades.
While blue-chip stocks helped anchor overall market performance, smaller names delivered the bulk of January’s headline returns—albeit with significantly higher volatility.
There are prospect that the Nigerian stock market capitalisation will hit over N260 trillion by the end of this year, Pinnacle Daily reported.
“Nigerian stock market capitalisation expected to reach N262 trillion in 2026, up 191% from the current market capitalisation of N90 trillion,” Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, said at the 2026 Parthian Economic Discourse event held in Lagos.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X
