Three Stocks Generate 42% of Weekly NGX Trading Volume

A small group of financial stocks dominated trading on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) last week with just three equities accounting for more than 42 percent of total shares traded despite a broad-based market selloff.

According to the NGX weekly report, Fortis Global Insurance Plc, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc and Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc recorded a combined turnover of 1.544 billion shares valued at N4.07 billion in 3,017 deals.

Together, the three stocks contributed 42.33 percent of the Exchange’s total equity trading volume but only 3.12 percent of the total value traded during the week.

The concentration of trading in just three equities highlights a notable feature of last week’s market activity. While these stocks generated almost half of all shares exchanged on the Exchange, they represented only a small fraction of the week’s total trading value of N130.15 billion, reflecting the relatively low share prices at which most of the transactions occurred.

Overall, investors traded 3.647 billion shares worth N130.15 billion in 244,777 deals, compared with 4.360 billion shares valued at N210.33 billion in the previous week. Although trading volume declined by 16.4 percent and turnover value dropped 38.1 percent, activity remained heavily concentrated in a few financial stocks.

The Financial Services Industry continued to dominate market activity, accounting for 2.909 billion shares valued at N56.67 billion, representing 79.76 percent of total trading volume and 43.54 percent of total market value.

Despite the strong trading activity in these stocks, the broader market remained under pressure. The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) declined 1.60 percent during the week, while equity market capitalisation fell by approximately N1.97 trillion as widespread profit-taking outweighed buying interest across most sectors.

The week’s trading pattern illustrates the concentration of liquidity on the Nigerian Exchange. Although investors remained active in a select group of financial stocks, trading was heavily skewed toward lower-priced equities with just three companies accounting for more than two-fifths of total market volume while contributing only a small share of overall transaction value.