Stockbrokers and investors have abandoned the equity market due to the Naira volatility, lack of market drive towards the end of the year,  and the high interest rate in Nigeria.

A long-time investor, David Adonri explained that the volume of trade usually drops towards the end of the year but the market normalises in January.

With the persistent drop in the value of the Nigerian Naira against foreign currencies, investors are wary of unfavourable currency conversion.

“The equity market reacts to so many things. The depreciation of the naira, which is around N1,700, of course, would impact the market. The foreign exchange position can make people exit the market and convert to hard currency, which is stronger, possibly to come back to the market when they see an improved currency level. That is what we call carry-over trade,” Adonri said.

“We also have the hike in the interest rate, which also causes financial assets to migrate away from the capital market,” Adonri added.

“Third, we are in the period of the year, where seasonally, the market is a little bit down because there is nothing specific to drive the market like full-year results or half-year dividends and so on. So we slide to a low tempo from September up to November until after Christmas the market starts trending up again,” he further stated.

According to a report by the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), equity investment transactions dropped in Q3, 2024 compared to the previous quarter of the year.

In the same vein, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that capital importation showed that investors shifted from equity investment to portfolio investment.

The portfolio investment includes equity, bonds, and money market instruments.

With the recent shift, the portfolio investment made a 10.37 percent increase amounting to a $106.85 million gain from the N1.03 billion total capital inflow.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) lost 0.25 percent on Wednesday following three consecutive days of gains that saw NGX market capitalization approach N60 trillion.

Activity on the Exchange declined as investors exchanged 257.552 million shares worth N8.993 billion in 7,776 transactions, compared to 286.1 million shares worth N26.8 billion traded in 9,650 deals on Tuesday.

The market capitalization of listed equities decreased by N148 billion from N59.707 trillion in the previous session to N59.559 trillion on Wednesday.

The NGX All-Share Index dropped 0.25 percent, or 249.4 points to close at 98,291.53 index points from 98,540.93 index points on Tuesday.

Deap Capital Management led the gainers with a 10 percent increase while UACN and Dangote Sugar followed with 9.90 percent and 9.69 percent gains, respectively.

On the flip side, Custodian led the losers with an 8.98 percent decline to close at N11.65 per share. Okomu Oil lost N24.90, or 6.86 percent to settle at N338.10 per unit and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings fell 6.62 percent, or 10 kobo to N1.41 per share.

Fidelity Bank was the most traded stock with 38.209 million shares worth N559.084 million exchanged. See other details below.

Top Five Gainers

Top Five Losers 

Top Five Trades

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed higher on Tuesday despite an inflation report showing consumer prices increased at a faster pace in the month of September.

The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation in an economy, showed the nation’s inflation rate quickened to 32.7 percent in September.

However, the NGX market capitalization appreciated thereafter by 0.33 percent or N197 billion to N59.707 trillion from N59.510 trillion recorded on Monday.

The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) also closed higher at 98,540.93 index points, a 325.80 points increase from 98,215.13 index points it closed in the previous session.

The Exchange sustained its momentum as investors jumped on Aradel, Oando and other stocks to push cumulative gain in the last three days to N3.69 trillion, according to a note by Atlas Portfolios Limited.

In its update, Atlass Portfolios Limited told investors that approximately 286.04 million units valued at ₦26,817.03 million were transacted across 9,650 deals.

Champion Breweries led the gainers as it expanded by 9.97 percent to quote at N3.42, Tantalizers added 9.09 percent to sell at 60 Kobo, Oando gained 7.93 percent to N77.60, Aradel Holdings rose by 6.09 percent to N820.00, and Eterna jumped by 4.86 percent to N25.90.

Caverton led the losers as it declined by 10.00 percent to trade at N2.34, Tripple G fell by 9.95 percent to finish at N1.81, C&I Leasing dropped by 9.80 percent to N3.59, Jaiz Bank weakened by 9.21 percent to N2.17, and Deap Capital declined by 9.09 percent to N1.20.

At the Tuesday session, investors transacted 286.1 million shares worth N26.8 billion in 9,650 deals versus the 305.0 million shares worth N19.8 billion traded in 8,083 deals in the previous day, this indicated a fall in the trading volume by 6.20 percent and a rise in the trading value and the number of deals by 36.04 percent and 19.39 percent, respectively.

Access Holdings topped the activity chart with 46.0 million equities sold for N928.5 million while Zenith Bank followed with 30.4 million shares worth N1.1 billion.

Investors transacted 25 million stocks of Aradel Holdings valued at N20.8 billion. UBA and Veritas Kapital experienced 16.9 million shares worth N412.9 million and 15.1 million equities valued at N22.7 million, respectively.