The Nigerian stock market ended August on a mildly positive note, posting a 0.31% gain despite late selloffs in some heavyweight stocks.
Tracked by the All-Share Index, the market opened at 139,863.5 points and gained over 5,000 in the first two weeks, climbing past 146,000 on the back of July’s strong momentum.
That early rally, however, gave way to weaker sentiment in the third week as oil and gas majors and some mid-cap stocks slipped, setting the stage for deeper losses.
By the fourth week, losses in big cement and other large caps dragged the index down over 3,500 points. With a further 708 points lost in the final week, much of August’s early gains were erased.
Despite the market’s muted close, several penny and mid-cap stocks, mainly in the insurance sector and a few from other industries, posted strong gains.
Although their performance could not fully offset the declines caused by select heavyweights, they still delivered impressive returns for investors who held them.
Here are August’s top performers.
Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc takes the 3rd spot with a 65.35% performance in August. Starting at N1.27, it soared as high as N2.79 by mid-month, before easing into a close of N2.10.
The rally was largely driven by heightened investor spark in insurance stocks, fueled by the NIIRA Act.
- In its H1 2025 report, Veritas showed insurance revenue of N12.5 billion, up from N9.9 billion a year earlier.
- Premiums rose to N13 billion (+9.84%), while claims stood at N1.04 billion.
With August erasing earlier losses, the stock now boasts a 54.4% year-to-date performance.
