Nigeria’s equities market gained N1.91 trillion in market value on Monday, August 3, 2026, as Airtel Africa Plc led major gainers on the Nigerian Exchange despite broad declines across several sectors.

Data from the Nigerian Exchange showed that the All-Share Index rose by 1.20%, or 2,956.15 points, to close at 248,529.75 points, compared with 245,573.60 points recorded in the previous session.

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The increase lifted total market capitalisation from N158.513 trillion to N160.422 trillion, marking a strong start to the trading week.

Airtel Africa was among the standout performers, rising 8.59% to close at N6,300 per share.

The telecommunications company was joined by Fortis Global Insurance, which gained 10% to N2.86, while Chams rose 9.80% to N4.48.

NAHCO advanced 9.29% to N153, while Sovereign Trust Insurance gained 6.59% to close at N1.78.

The Consumer Goods Index was the only major sectoral index to record a notable gain, rising 0.76% during the session.

Other sectors, however, closed lower. The Insurance Index declined 1.64%, while the Banking Index fell 0.24%.

The Energy Index shed 0.09%, and the Industrial Goods Index declined marginally by 0.05%.

Despite the strong rise in the benchmark index, market breadth painted a less encouraging picture.

A total of 37 stocks closed lower, compared with 23 gainers, suggesting that the market’s advance was driven by selected heavyweight stocks rather than a broad-based rally.

AVA Capital recorded the biggest decline, falling 10% to N9.90 per share.

Ecobank followed with a 9.92% decline to N64.95, while Caverton dropped 9.09% to N5.

Ikeja Hotel lost 8.41% to close at N43, while FTN Cocoa declined 8.37% to N8.10.

Trading activity remained substantial, although the volume of shares exchanged was lower than in the previous session.

Investors traded 1.10 billion shares valued at N27 billion across 59,185 deals.

Consolidated Hallmark led the activity chart with 354.1 million shares worth N1.5 billion.

Fortis Global Insurance followed with 307.3 million shares valued at N818.3 million.

Access Holdings recorded 48.1 million shares worth N1.4 billion, while Chams traded 37.4 million shares valued at N163.3 million.

First HoldCo recorded 35.8 million shares worth N5.1 billion.

The contrasting performance across sectors and individual stocks highlights the uneven nature of the session. While selected equities generated strong gains and pushed the benchmark higher, losses across a larger number of stocks limited the breadth of the rally.

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Airtel Africa’s strong performance nevertheless provided a notable boost to the market, helping the NGX begin the week on a positive footing and pushing overall market capitalisation above the N160 trillion mark.