Domestic investors traded stocks worth an estimated 8.4 trillion naira on the Nigerian Exchange in the first half of 2026, a 176.2 percent increase from the 3.06 trillion naira recorded in the same period last year, according to the exchange’s latest portfolio investment report.

The report showed domestic institutional investors accounted for 5.06 trillion naira in transactions, more than triple the amount recorded a year earlier, while retail investors traded 3.39 trillion naira, up 130.4 percent. Analysts linked the sharp rise in institutional activity to the National Pension Commission’s February 2026 decision to raise equity investment limits for pension funds, which increased the maximum equity allocation across several retirement savings account fund categories and injected fresh liquidity into the stock market.

Overall market capitalization rose by 47.84 trillion naira in the first half of the year, driven by gains in banking, consumer goods, industrial and oil and gas stocks, with analysts attributing the rally to improved corporate earnings expectations and investor positioning ahead of the second half earnings season. Total transactions by domestic and foreign investors combined reached 9.61 trillion naira, up 129.1 percent year on year, with foreign investors trading 1.16 trillion naira, a modest 2.2 percent increase. As a result, domestic investors’ share of total trading activity rose to 87.93 percent, up from 72.92 percent a year earlier, while foreign investors’ share declined correspondingly.