Analysts: Stock Market Sentiment to Remain Broadly Cautious in June

Kayode Tokede

Capital market analysts have urged investors to trade cautiously in the Nigerian equities market  in June 2026, shifting focus to fundamentally strong stocks with attractive valuations.

This is coming at a point when the NGX All Share Index gained 3.35 per cent in May 2026, the lowest gain on a month-on-month performance. The NGX All Share Index  in its Year-till-Date (YtD) as of May 2026 appreciated to 60.90 per cent in five months.   

Analysts at Cordros Securities Limited in a report stated, “Looking ahead, we expect market sentiment to remain broadly cautious in the near term, in the absence of a clear catalyst to drive momentum.”

Also, analysts at Cowry Assets Management Limited said, “the Nigerian equities market is expected to remain cautiously positive, with performance likely driven by stock-specific factors rather than broad market momentum.

“Weak market breadth and subdued trading activity suggest continued fragile sentiment, while elevated fixed-income yields may sustain occasional portfolio shifts away from equities. Nonetheless, selective opportunities may emerge in fundamentally strong counters, particularly in the banking and insurance sectors, as investors remain focused on earnings resilience and dividend prospects.”

Last week, the domestic bourse closed the holiday-shortened week higher as the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 0.27 per cent week-on-week to close at 250,385.47 points, while market capitalisation increased by N432 billion to N160. 509 trillion. 

Also, the year-to-date return strengthened further to 60.90 per cent, reflecting sustained, albeit cautious, investor confidence in the domestic equities space.

However, market breadth remained weak, closing negative with 43 gainers against 45 decliners. This indicates a largely selective and stock-specific trading pattern, as gains were concentrated in a limited number of counters despite the overall index uptick. International Energy Insurance led the gainers table by 32.55 per cent to close at N4.52, per share. Sovereign Trust Insurance followed with a gain of 20.61 per cent to close at N2.75, while Tantalizers went up by 18.40 per cent to close to N4.89, per share.

On the other side, Dangote Sugar Refinery led the decliners table by 18.22 per cent to close at N71.15, per share. The Initiates Plc (TIP) followed with a loss of 15.98 per cent to close at N28.40, while Premier Paints declined by 10.00 per cent to close at N33.75, per share.

Meanwhile, a total turnover of 2.398 billion shares worth N111.480 billion in 241,313 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 3.875 billion shares valued at N161.757 billion that exchanged hands previous week in 334,745 deals.

The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 1.656 billion shares valued at N48.229 billion traded in 94,812 deals, contributing 69.07 per cent and 43.26 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Services Industry followed with 265.448 million shares worth N4.530 billion in 19,443 deals, while the ICT Industry pulled a turnover of 101.848 million shares worth N9.163 billion in 24,858 deals.

Trading in the top equities, Fidelity Bank, Access Holdings and The Initiates Plc accounted for 903.681 million shares worth N19.227 billion in 22,238 deals, contributing 37.69 per cent and 17.25 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.