Trading activities on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited experienced a significant slowdown during the past week, primarily due to the reduced number of trading days caused by the public holidays declared to mark the 2025 Eid el-Fitr celebration.
The Federal Government had declared Monday, March 31 and Tuesday, April 1 as public holidays, thereby limiting the market to only three trading sessions for the week.
As a result, investors exchanged a total of 1.183 billion shares valued at N28.87bn in 42,397 deals during the shortened week.
This marked a sharp decline when compared to the previous week’s trading volume and value, which stood at 7.521 billion shares worth N398.95bn exchanged in 61,312 transactions.
The significant drop in turnover reflected the impact of the public holidays on market participation and investor sentiment.
Market performance during the week remained largely bearish. The benchmark NGX All-Share Index closed at 105,511.89 points, representing a decline of 0.14 per cent from the previous week’s close. Similarly, the market capitalization of listed equities fell by 0.17 per cent, ending the week at N66.15bn.
The downward movement in the broader market index was driven by profit-taking activities in several large-cap stocks, as investors responded to global market trends and local macroeconomic signals.
Despite the general decline in performance, a few indices on the NGX managed to post modest gains.
The NGX Consumer Goods Index, NGX Banking Index, NGX Pension Index, NGX ASeM Index, NGX African Bank Value Index, NGX MERI Value Index, NGX Sovereign Bond Index, and the NGX Pension Broad Index all recorded slight upticks, with appreciation rates ranging between 0.02 per cent and 1.02 per cent.
These gains were largely driven by renewed investor interest in selected banking and value-oriented stocks. However, the NGX Commodity Index ended the week flat, showing no movement from its previous position.
In terms of sectoral performance, the Financial Services sector once again led the market in both volume and value of transactions.
The sector accounted for a total of 906.59 million shares valued at N18.93bn traded across 22,876 deals.
This represents 76.60 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and 65.56 per cent of the total value, reaffirming the sector’s dominance in the Nigerian capital market.
The Consumer Goods sector followed with a total turnover of 71.06 million shares worth N2.22b, executed in 3,394 deals.
The Services sector took the third position, with investors exchanging 47.31 million shares valued at N396.90m in 2,132 transactions.
Fidelity Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, and Universal Insurance Plc emerged as the three most actively traded stocks during the week under review. Together, the trio accounted for a combined total of 264.63 million shares worth N5.93bn, executed in 5,714 deals.
Their contribution represented 22.36 percent and 20.55 percent of the overall traded volume and value respectively, highlighting their continued attractiveness to both institutional and retail investors.
Meanwhile, market sentiment remained largely negative, as reflected in the market breadth. A total of 23 equities recorded price gains during the week, a steep decline compared to the 43 gainers recorded in the previous week.
On the other hand, 51 equities posted price declines, which was an increase from 36 decliners recorded in the prior week.
Additionally, 73 equities remained unchanged in price, marginally up from the 71 that closed flat in the preceding week.
The combination of a shortened trading week, cautious investor behavior, and profit-taking activities contributed to the overall subdued performance of the Nigerian equities market.
Market analysts expect trading activities to pick up in the coming week as normal business hours resume and investors reassess their positions based on evolving economic and corporate developments.
