Fidelity, Zenith, Chams, Access, Sterling Account for 55% of NGX Trading Volume

Fidelity Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Chams Holding Company Plc, Access Holdings Plc and Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc accounted for 55 percent of total shares traded on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Tuesday, September 22, as market volume surged to 837.26 million shares.

The five equities recorded a combined 460.90 million shares, concentrating more than half of the day’s trading volume in a small group of highly active stocks.

Fidelity Bank led the market with 165.43 million shares worth N3.29 billion, representing approximately 19.8 percent of the 837.26 million shares exchanged during the session.

Zenith Bank followed with 105.65 million shares valued at N13.73 billion, accounting for another 12.6 percent of total market volume.

However, Zenith’s contribution was substantially larger when measured by transaction value. Its N13.73 billion turnover represented approximately 28.3 percent of the N48.57 billion traded across the equities market.

Chams Holding Company recorded 71.83 million shares worth N240.58 million, while Access Holdings accounted for 62.43 million shares valued at N1.86 billion.

Sterling Financial Holdings completed the five most actively traded equities with 55.56 million shares worth N421.17 million.

Combined, the five stocks generated approximately N19.54 billion in transaction value, equivalent to about 40.2 percent of total market turnover.

The figures show that trading activity was heavily concentrated by both volume and value, although the monetary contribution differed considerably among the five stocks.

Fidelity Bank accounted for the largest number of shares traded, while Zenith Bank dominated by transaction value.

The concentration also reflected the continued importance of financial stocks to market liquidity. Four of the five volume leaders—Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Holdings and Sterling Financial Holdings—were financial institutions.

Tuesday’s concentration occurred as overall market activity accelerated significantly.

Investors exchanged 837.26 million shares worth N48.57 billion in 52,126 deals, compared with 574.19 million shares valued at N38.06 billion in 68,655 deals on Monday.

Trading volume therefore increased approximately 45.8 percent, while transaction value rose about 27.6 percent.

Despite the increase in both volume and value, the number of deals declined by approximately 24.1 percent, indicating that more shares were exchanged through fewer transactions.

The broader equities market also maintained its upward trajectory.

The NGX All-Share Index advanced 0.18 percent to 250,614.66 points, from 250,156.80 points on Monday, while equity market capitalisation increased by approximately N297 billion to N162.68 trillion.

Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, Chams, Access Holdings and Sterling Financial Holdings were therefore central to Tuesday’s increase in market activity, collectively accounting for more than half of all shares traded and about two-fifths of the value exchanged on the NGX.