The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) reversed four consecutive weeks of the bullish trend, as investors’ wealth declined by N202 billion reflecting a response to the decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria to hold the rate at 27.5 per cent.
The market capitalisation of listed equities which stood at N68,963 trillion as of Friday, May 26, 2025, depreciated by N202 billion or 0.3 per cent to N68,751 last week Friday (May 23, 2025).
The all-share index which measures the performance of listed firms also fell from 109.710.37 points to 109.028.62 points representing a decline of 0.6 per cent.
According to the capital market analysis by the Guardian newspaper on Monday, last week’s decline was triggered by sell-offs across the banking and energy sectors as investors embarked on portfolio rebalancing activities after the CBN’s announcement to keep all policy parameters unchanged at its 300th Monetary Policy Committee meeting.
Investor sentiment was further dampened by the listing of 34.2 billion new ordinary shares from the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc’s Rights Issue. The expansion of the market float from this listing accounted for a notional wealth reduction of approximately N201.4 billion.
Despite the headline decline, market activity remained robust. Weekly trading volume surged by 50.8 per cent to 3.92 billion units, while the number of deals executed rose by 35.7 per cent to 105,012. The total value of trades also grew by 17.2 per cent, reaching N74.61 billion, highlighting sustained investor interest despite short-term volatility.
Year-to-date, the ASI return moderated to 5.93 per cent, even as overall market breadth remained positive, with 52 gainers outpacing 41 losers.
On the sectoral performance, the consumer goods index led the gainers with a 2.2 per cent rise, driven by buying interest in Nestlé Nigeria, Tantalizers, Guinness Nigeria, and Ikeja Hotel. The NGX insurance and industrial goods indices followed with modest gains of 0.73 per cent and 0.72 per cent, respectively, supported by improved sentiment in stocks such as Cutix, Custodian Investment, Regal Insurance, Tripple Gee, Beta Glass, and Linkage Assurance.
On the other hand, the NGX Oil & Gas Index recorded the highest decline, shedding 3.4 per cent, followed by a 1.52 per cent drop in the NGX Banking Index and a 0.75 per cent decline in the NGX Commodity Index. These losses were largely attributed to sell-offs in Fidelity Bank, Aradel Holdings, AccessCorp, and Wema Bank.
A turnover of 3.9 billion shares valued at N74.8 billion was recorded in 105,220 deals by investors on the exchange. This marks a notable 51 per cent increase in trading volume compared to the previous week’s 2.606 billion shares worth N63.8 billion exchanged in 77,593 deals during the preceding week.
The financial services sector dominated the chart, accounting for 61.2 per cent of the total traded volume and 43.1 per cent of total value. A total of 2.405 billion shares worth N32.271 billion were exchanged within the sector across 44,570 deals, reinforcing its central role in market liquidity.
GIK/APA