Nigerian Stock Exchange Sees N178bn Decline Despite Financial Sector Activity

Last week, the Nigerian equity market experienced a significant setback, losing N178 billion despite improved activity in the financial services sector.

This decline comes as the All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation depreciated by 0.04 percent to close at 100,022.03 points and N56.581 trillion, respectively.

The week saw mixed performance across various stocks with the price appreciation of 37 stocks falling short of the 48 stocks that appreciated the previous week.

Meanwhile, 72 stocks remained unchanged, and 45 stocks saw a decline in price, compared to 34 stocks the week before.

Trading volume also reflected the market’s turbulent week with investors exchanging a total of 2.259 billion shares worth N31.166 billion in 42,851 deals.

This was a decrease from the 2.651 billion shares worth N49.976 billion traded in 41,610 deals the previous week.

Despite the overall market decline, the financial services industry led the activity chart by volume with 1.801 billion shares worth N22.030 billion exchanged in 23,112 deals.

This sector alone contributed 70.69 percent and 79.75 percent of the total stock turnover volume and value, respectively.

The oil and gas industry followed, recording 121.001 million shares valued at N1.771 billion in 3,124 transactions.

The conglomerate sector ranked third with 90.713 million shares worth N1.081 billion traded in 2,277 deals.

Among individual equities, Fidelity Bank Plc, Universal Insurance Plc, and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc emerged as top performers by volume.

These three companies accounted for 909.821 million shares worth N12.057 billion across 4,798 deals, contributing 40.28 percent and 38.69 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

Despite the overall downturn, several indices ended the week on a positive note. However, the NGX 30, NGX Premium, NGX Meristem Value, NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Lotus II, and NGX Pension Broad indices depreciated by 0.27 percent, 0.52 percent, 0.01 percent, 0.69 percent, 0.56 percent, and 0.07 percent, respectively.

The NGX Alternative Securities Market and NGX Sovereign Bond indices remained flat.

This market performance is a stark contrast to the previous week’s bullish sentiment, where investors gained N475 billion, driven by significant contributions from Computer Warehouse Group, FTN Cocoa Processors, and United Capital Plc.

Analysts suggest that the fluctuations in market performance underscore the volatility and sensitivity of the Nigerian stock market to both internal and external factors.