The Nigerian equities market witnessed a decline during a trading week shortened by the Easter holiday, with market capitalisation falling by N207 billion amid mixed investor sentiment driven by ongoing earnings reports and dividend announcements.
Activities on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) were limited to four sessions as the Federal Government declared Friday, April 18, and Monday, April 21, 2025, public holidays in celebration of Easter.
Consequently, the NGX All-Share Index slid by 0.32 per cent, ending the week at 104,233.81 points. Market capitalisation also dropped, closing at N65.499 trillion compared to the previous week’s N65.706 trillion.
According to the NGX’s weekly trading summary, investors exchanged a total of 1.525 billion shares valued at N43.006 billion across 51,156 deals. This marked a slowdown in trading activity from the previous week’s 2.094 billion shares worth N52.967 billion across 64,612 transactions, underscoring the impact of the reduced trading days.
A breakdown of sectoral performance revealed that the financial services sector maintained its lead on the activity chart, contributing 1.122 billion shares worth N24.015 billion in 28,818 trades. This sector alone accounted for 73.56 per cent of total trading volume and 55.84 per cent of total market value.
Trailing behind was the ICT sector, which saw the exchange of 101.252 million shares valued at N4.819 billion in 2,541 transactions. The services sector followed closely, with 99.776 million shares worth N1.230 billion traded in 3,063 deals.
Leading equities by volume for the week were Access Holdings Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and Universal Insurance Plc. Combined, these three stocks contributed 448.105 million shares worth N6.730 billion across 6,481 deals, representing 29.39 per cent of total trading volume and 15.65 per cent of the market’s traded value.
Market sentiment remained moderately positive as 31 stocks recorded gains, improving from the 27 that advanced the week before. On the downside, 44 equities declined in value, compared to 56 losers recorded previously, while 72 stocks remained unchanged, up from 64 in the preceding week.
In the Exchange Traded Products (ETP) segment, there was a sharp drop in activity as 19,814 units worth N3.572 million were traded across 62 deals. This was significantly lower than the 111,693 units valued at N6.115 million transacted in 83 deals the prior week.
Similarly, the bond market saw a decline in turnover. A total of 81,759 bond units valued at N84.283 million were traded in 27 deals, compared to 144,487 units worth N151.615 million exchanged in 100 deals during the previous week.
Despite the broader market dip, several sectoral indices recorded positive performances. The Premium Board Index rose by 0.57 per cent, while the Pension Index appreciated by 0.42 per cent. The MERI Growth Index advanced by 2.67 per cent, Consumer Goods increased by 2.33 per cent, Oil & Gas edged up 0.20 per cent, Lotus II climbed 0.16 per cent, Growth Index gained 0.26 per cent, Sovereign Bond rose by 0.39 per cent, and the Pension Broad Index improved by 0.55 per cent. Both the ASeM and Commodity indices closed flat.
Meanwhile, trading began on Wema Bank Plc’s rights issue offering of 14.29 billion ordinary shares at 50 kobo each, priced at N10.45 per share. The offer, which opened on Monday, April 14, 2025, is structured on the basis of two new ordinary shares for every three held as of Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
