The Nigerian banking index slipped by 37 basis points on Tuesday as institutional investors executed significant block trades off the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) platform, dampening sentiment across financial stocks.
Despite a generally positive trend in the broader market, the banking sector underperformed due to sell-offs in major financial institutions such as FCMB, UBA, and ACCESSCORP, according to trading data from the NGX.
FIDELITYBANK led the volume chart with 50.90 million shares, followed by CHAMS (37.36 million), TANTALIZER (36.69 million), and ACCESSCORP (30.15 million).
In terms of value, MTN Nigeria (₦2.46 billion), Dangote Cement (₦2.34 billion), Lafarge Africa (₦2.26 billion), and Zenith Bank (₦1.21 billion) dominated trading activity.
Noteworthy block transactions included:
- FIDELITYBANK: 45 million shares traded at ₦20.05–₦20.10 per share, worth ₦926 million.
- Dangote Cement: Two block trades totaling 999 million shares at ₦585.60 per share, valued at ₦585 million.
- ACCESSCORP: 5 million shares traded at ₦26.00 per share, worth ₦130 million.
Sectoral analysis showed mixed results. The Insurance Index (+1.01%) led the gainers, buoyed by WAPIC (+6.45%) and AIICO (+1.78%). The Industrial Goods (+0.30%) and Consumer Goods (+0.10%) sectors also recorded slight upticks, driven by BUACEMENT (+0.63%) and INTBREW (+3.57%).
However, the Banking Index (-0.37%) and Oil & Gas Index (-0.09%) ended the day in the red as sell-side activity weighed on investor sentiment.
Analysts say that while block transactions can temporarily distort market dynamics, the broader equity outlook remains positive given continued rotation of capital from fixed-income instruments into equities.
