The Nigerian equities market opened the week on a bearish note, as investors embarked on profit-taking in high-cap stocks, leading to a ₦94bn loss in market capitalisation at the close of trading on Monday.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) showed that market capitalisation fell to ₦98.7tn from ₦98.8tn recorded on Friday, representing a 0.1 per cent decline. Similarly, the All-Share Index dipped by 148.90 points, closing at 155,496.15.
Despite the slight pullback, the market continues to show strength, sustaining a weekly gain of 3.71 per cent, a four-week gain of 9.4 per cent, and an impressive year-to-date return of 51.08 per cent, underscoring sustained investor confidence in Nigerian equities.
Trading Activity Weakens
Investors traded 502.99 million shares worth ₦24.94bn across 39,945 deals, representing a 58 per cent drop in volume and a 21 per cent decline in value compared to the previous session. However, the number of deals increased by 33 per cent, reflecting active repositioning by market participants.
The financial and industrial sectors dominated trading activity.
- Access Holdings led the volume chart with 68.9 million shares worth ₦1.62bn, followed by FBN Holdings, which traded 66.6 million shares valued at ₦2.09bn.
- Universal Insurance (19.2m shares), Sovereign Trust Insurance (19.1m shares), and Zenith Bank (18.2m shares) also featured prominently.
On the value chart, Aradel Holdings topped with ₦5.63bn in trades, followed by Presco (₦2.25bn), FBN Holdings (₦2.09bn), Dangote Cement (₦1.65bn), and Access Holdings (₦1.62bn).
Market Breadth Turns Negative
The market breadth closed negative, recording 25 gainers against 34 losers.
Among the top gainers were:
- Aradel Holdings (+10%) to close at ₦869 per share
- NEM Insurance (+9.67%) to ₦32.90
- Aso Savings & Loans (+9.09%)
- Eterna Plc (+8.75%)
Conversely, the top laggards included:
- Deap Capital Management & Trust (−9.71%) to ₦1.58
- Champion Breweries (−9.64%) to ₦15.00
- Red Star Express (−8.64%)
- Wapic Insurance (−6.45%)
- PZ Cussons (−5.94%)
Mixed Sectoral Performance
Performance across indices was mixed:
- Oil and Gas Index rose 4.24%
- Insurance Index gained 1.09%
- Main Board Index advanced 0.22%
- Pension Index fell 0.48%
- Top 30 Index slipped 0.08%
Market Outlook Remains Bullish
The slight market decline followed one of the strongest weeks for Nigerian equities in recent months. According to The PUNCH, the NGX added ₦4.32tn in value the previous week, with the All-Share Index closing at 155,645.05 points a sign of renewed investor confidence and sustained optimism across major sectors.
Analysts expect the market to continue trading with mixed sentiment, as investors balance profit-taking with strategic re-entry ahead of third-quarter earnings releases and ongoing recapitalisation efforts by major financial institutions.
