The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) suffered a major setback last week as sustained sell pressure across key stocks wiped off approximately N4.91 trillion from investors’ wealth, causing the benchmark index to decline by 3.11 per cent.
Market data released by the NGX showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) closed at 242,593.31 points, while market capitalisation fell by 3.06 per cent to N155.59 trillion, reflecting growing bearish sentiment among investors.
Despite the market downturn, trading activity recorded significant growth during the week.
Investors traded a total of 3.966 billion shares valued at N175.66 billion in 343,587 deals, compared to 2.398 billion shares worth N111.48 billion exchanged in 241,313 deals during the previous week.
The figures represent increases of 65.4 per cent in trading volume, 57.6 per cent in value, and 42.4 per cent in the number of deals.
Market breadth remained firmly negative as losers outpaced gainers. A total of 65 equities recorded price declines during the week, compared to 51 in the preceding week.
Only 23 stocks posted gains, down from 34 recorded earlier, while 58 equities closed unchanged.
Sectoral performance mirrored the broader market weakness, with all major indices ending the week in negative territory except the NGX Sovereign Bond Index, which closed flat.
The Financial Services Industry dominated market activity, accounting for 2.690 billion shares valued at N69.98 billion traded in 134,882 deals.
The sector contributed 67.83 per cent of total trading volume and 39.84 per cent of total market value traded during the week.
The Services Industry followed with 323.601 million shares worth N6.44 billion exchanged in 25,906 deals, while the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector ranked third with 176.039 million shares valued at N27.89 billion traded in 40,837 deals.
Among the most actively traded stocks were Access Holdings Plc, Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc and Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, which jointly accounted for 1.290 billion shares worth N17.56 billion in 17,768 deals.
Together, the three companies contributed 32.53 per cent of total equity turnover volume and 10 per cent of the total turnover value recorded during the week.
Market analysts attributed the downturn to profit-taking by investors following recent gains in several blue-chip stocks, as well as cautious sentiment driven by prevailing economic and market uncertainties.
The week’s performance highlights the fragile state of investor confidence, as increased trading activity proved insufficient to prevent a broad-based decline in share prices and overall market capitalisation.
